Stem-Cell Bills Top Senate Agenda [WSJ]
As Frist Pushes for Vote, Democrats Aim to Capitalize On the Issue in Midterm Elections
By SARAH LUECK
July 17, 2006; Page A4
WASHINGTON -- The Senate turns Monday to the sensitive issue of stem-cell research, with political concerns driving the topic and the timing.
Expanding federal aid to researchers who use stem cells derived from embryos, a popular idea but one opposed by some antiabortion lawmakers, gives Democrats the chance to make political hay before the November elections. It also gives Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who supports expanded funding, an opportunity to raise his standing with moderates and the medical and scientific communities as he considers a 2008 White House run.
Yet the Tennessee Republican is eager to dispatch the matter before the midterm elections, to minimize damage to Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri and other antiabortion Republicans in tight races.
Senate debate of three stem-cell bills -- all expected to pass -- is expected to run through Tuesday. The most contentious measure would relax funding restrictions President Bush put on embryonic stem-cell research in 2001. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, matches the measure the House passed last year. It would allow federal funding for studies using stem cells from embryos created for in-vitro fertilization that otherwise would be discarded. Mr. Bush has pledged to veto the bill, despite the support it has from Sen. Frist and a significant number of other Republicans.
They hope an alternative proposal that promotes stem-cell research that doesn't harm embryos will give political cover to antiabortion senators who say it is immoral to destroy embryos. Some lawmakers who argue that easing the aid restrictions could lead to cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's and other diseases acknowledge that the debate is touchy for the party.
"The Republican Party, if you polled it, is for it," said Sen. Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican who supports loosening the Bush funding limits. For many Republicans, he said, "I think they would rather it not come up ... there's frustration that it's like immigration, in that it splits the party."
The White House, for its part, remains opposed to broader funding for embryonic stem-cell research. And congressional aides said it was doubtful the House, and perhaps the Senate, would have enough votes to override Mr. Bush's expected veto, which would be the first of his presidency.
With much at stake politically, lobbying before the vote has been intense. Stem-cell research advocates said White House political adviser Karl Rove was calling senators to urge them to vote against the bill, as were antiabortion groups. Former first lady Nancy Reagan and many scientists and patient-advocacy groups have been pushing for support.
In Missouri, Claire McCaskill, the Democrat challenging Mr. Talent, highlighted her support for expanding embryonic stem-cell research in the Democrats' radio address Saturday. "I must admit it is hard to understand that the president's first veto in six years would amount to saying no to doctors, researchers, patients and families," she said. "It would be saying no to lives."
Democrats say their advantage on stem cells extends to Pennsylvania, Ohio and throughout the Midwest, where the party hopes to attract independent and moderate Republican voters. "It's not just in Missouri," said Sen. Charles Schumer, the New York Democrat leading his party's Senate re-election effort. "It's been a very significant issue with a group of swing voters that in the past was not open to us. ... The American people don't like it when either party is captured by ideologues."
Mr. Frist's efforts to advance the stem-cell issue to a vote could help restore his credibility with the medical and scientific communities, which in some cases were dismayed by the surgeon's involvement in last year's debate over whether to end the life of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman. Mr. Frist's position on stem cells puts him on the side of many voters, but it upsets some of his party's conservative base.
An abortion opponent, the senator worked for months behind the scenes on a framework to speed the votes: no amendments can be offered and debate is limited to two days. "I applaud the majority leader for getting it up in an orderly fashion," said Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, an opponent of the Specter bill and another possible 2008 presidential candidate. "If we're going to agree to this, let's get something we can vote for," Mr. Brownback said, referring to the alternative bill that would promote research that doesn't harm embryos. Supporters of the Specter bill say the alternative, sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum, Republican of Pennsylvania, would have little practical effect.
The third bill, sponsored by Sens. Brownback and Santorum, would ban "fetal farming," or use by scientists of tissue from embryos created for research. It is a priority for antiabortion groups. Many senators, including Mr. Frist, plan to vote for all three bills.
After the House passed its stem-cell bill, Mr. Frist, who had supported Mr. Bush's limits, changed his position, citing scientific developments. He had planned to move legislation before campaign season was in full swing, but other matters took center stage. Senate Democrats have been demanding that Mr. Frist act on his promise to bring a stem-cell bill to a vote. Sen. Richard Durbin, (D., Ill.), pledged to make July "stem-cell month," bringing up the issue at every opportunity if Mr. Frist didn't respond.
With many Republicans supporting expanded funding, even the White House didn't push hard to stop the Senate vote.
Some Republicans hope to resolve the matter this week. In the House, Republicans are working to pass the Santorum alternative and fetal-farming bills to give Mr. Bush something to sign while vetoing the expansion bill.
"The way I've done it, I think, is the fairest," Mr. Frist said, citing his commitment to advancing research in a "strong ethical and moral framework."
"If someone else had been leader, this thing wouldn't have been brought to the floor," Mr. Frist said. "This is one for the people who understand what makes me tick."
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