mr. speaker , as my colleague from massachusetts eloquently stated a minute ago , today this house has a historic opportunity to vote for hope , hope for millions of americans suffering with devastating diseases . 
these patients , their doctors and scientists , have reason to hope , the potential that embryonic stem cell research has for developing new treatments for these devastating diseases . 
one of my dearest friends recently died of als , or lou gehrig 's disease , which causes fatal destruction of nerve cells . 
the slow death sentence that als gives its victims is brutal . 
the disease took away my young friend tom 's ability to control his own muscles , paralyzing them and ultimately making it impossible for him to breathe . 
stem cell research provides hope , not for tom but for future als victims . 
scientists believe they can use stem cell research to replace the devastated nerve cells that als leaves behind . 
with heart disease affecting so many of us in this nation , the promise of embryonic stem cell research has advancements for the human heart which are incredible to think of . 
instead of patients suffering because their heart cells are failing and no longer able to pump blood , new ways could be discovered to replace those cells . 
and with regard to cancer , stem cell research has enormous potential . 
for example , it could facilitate the testing of new medications and treatments , not in time for my daughter 's life , but for her young children 's generation . 
we can not afford to wait . 
and it could be used to grow bone marrow that matches a patient and is not rejected by his or her body . 
in each of these cases , stem cell research holds out promise . 
it provides hope that longer , better-quality lives are possible . 
that is what this bill is about . 
it will expand the ability of the national institutes of health to fund this research and improve the chances for finding new treatments and cures . 
as we have discussed , each year thousands of embryos no bigger than the head of a pin are created in the process of in vitro fertilization . 
a small percentage of these embryos are implanted and , hopefully , become much-longed-for children . 
some of the rest will be frozen , but most are discarded . 
they will not be used to create life , they will never become children , they will be lost without purpose . 
but under h.r. 810 , with the informed consent of the donor , under strict ethical guidelines , these embryos can be used to give life to millions of americans . 
today , we can give this hope to millions who have little to hope for now . 
this is an historic opportunity . 
i urge my colleagues to do the right thing , to support lifesaving medical research . 
support h.r. 810 . 
