mr. speaker , i rise in support of h.r. 810 , the stem cell research enhancement act of 2005 . 
stem-cell research holds tremendous promise for advances in health care for all americans . 
stem-cell research may one day lead to treatments for parkinson 's , alzheimer 's , arthritis , cancer , diabetes , multiple sclerosis , spinal-cord injuries , lou gehrig 's disease , strokes , severe burns and many more diseases and injuries . 
however , mr. speaker , nearly 4 years ago , the president made an arbitrary and shortsighted decision to limit federally funded embryonic stem-cell research to stem-cell lines that already existed . 
at that time , on august 9 , 2001 , the president promised 78 stem-cell lines would be available to federal researchers , yet almost 4 years later , there are at most , only 22 lines available . 
even worse , many of these lines are contaminated with animal cells that make them unusable for human therapeutic study . 
mr. speaker , the time has arrived for congress to unshackle our researchers and scientists and allow them to expand the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research . 
indeed , mr. speaker , our own top scientists and officials at the national institutes of health , nih , have stated that the president 's 2001 limitations have caused us to fall behind in this research field . 
the nih should be leading this cutting-edge research , yet it is in jeopardy of failing in this role should the president 's policy be allowed to continue . 
some states , such as california , are attempting to fill the void left by the lack of federal funding . 
however , mr. speaker , as the director of the nih has warned , this could lead to a patchwork of stem-cell policies , with different laws and regulations which could defeat the type of collaborative research nih is chartered to carry out . 
mr. speaker , h.r. 810 would simply allow federal funding for research on embryonic stem-cell lines regardless of the date on which they were derived . 
this means researchers and scientists would be eligible to utilize their federal funds for research on a new stem-cell line as long as it met the strict ethical guidelines contained in the bill . 
those rules restrict stem cell lines to embryos that have been created originally for fertility purposes , and that are no longer needed for fertility . 
second , the bill requires that the embryo have no further other use and be intended for destruction . 
also , there must be written consent for donation of the embryo from the individuals for whom the embryo was created . 
finally , the bill calls for the director of nih to issue guidelines to ensure that federally funded researchers adhere to ethical standards . 
mr. speaker , the stem cell research enhancement act of 2005 is needed to ensure that the full promise of embryonic stem-cell research is fulfilled . 
h.r. 810 allows research to take place in a safe , structured , and ethical manner . 
while all stem-cell research is important , the unique ability of embryonic stem cells to give rise to any tissue or cell in the body that makes these stem cells critically important to medical research . 
therefore , i urge my colleagues to support this legislation and lift the president 's restrictions that now obstruct effective federally funded embryonic stem-cell research . 
