mr. speaker , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
today we in the congress are debating the essence of human life , the creation of life and the destruction of life . 
we are debating how one 's family 's life code , their dna , is propagated and bequeathed to the next generation . 
each human life begins as an embryo . 
what concerns me , as someone who cherishes life and is a strong supporter of medical research for epilepsy , for diabetes , for spinal cord injury , for alzheimer 's , for so many debilitating diseases , is that this bill seems to be on a very fast track . 
it is moving through this congress at record speed and not under the normal procedures we depend on to make informed decisions . 
today i rise with more questions than answers on this bill . 
i respect the advocates . 
i respect those that do not support the bill . 
but i know one thing : on a matter of life and death , congress should proceed carefully , thoughtfully and in an informed manner . 
all points of view must be heard and not suppressed . 
most surprisingly , this bill never had a subcommittee nor a full committee hearing . 
so my opinion today about this bill is : not yet . 
i am not yet confident that this institution has allowed for full dialogue to develop on a matter of such gravitas . 
regardless of how you view the bills before us , the lack of a full hearing record is most troubling indeed . 
i ask myself , why is the normal committee process subverted on a matter of such consequence ? 
what do proponents have to lose ? 
where is the committee transcript that will tell us the diverging views of scientists on the potentiality of adult stem cell versus embryonic stem cell to improve life ? 
the fact is , there is none . 
some evidence indicates stem cell research from nonembryonic sources now has made a difference in treating 58 different diseases . 
we need to know more about the science . 
then , where is the committee record that helps us struggle with the essential moral question of : how exactly does one destroy life in order to save it ? 
where is the committee transcript that reveals to the majority of members not on the committee the ethical questions that we and every family should be addressing concerning the proprietary nature of the dna in any embryonic cell ? 
we go to great lengths as a congress to protect intellectual property rights , as our constitution requires . 
after all , this nation provides for patents for computer software , for medical devices , for seed corn genomes ; and yet we provide no protection for the dna of a human embryo ? 
whose dna will be bequeathed to the future and whose will not ? 
how do we evaluate this bill when so much is missing ? 
how do we evaluate which embryos should be allowed to be sent to research and how many to be adopted by infertile couples so those embryos can be developed into full human beings ? 
who will decide ? 
is it just a matter for the individual couple , or is there a larger , societal responsibility to protect life ? 
the woman whose eggs are being taken , how is she legally protected ? 
how is her husband or mate legally protected in this relationship ? 
and what are the rights of the embryo ? 
where is the hearing record that informs us how to carefully manage any transfer of human embryos to research so their essential worth is recognized ? 
we are told that the ethical requirements section of the bill will suffice , yet this section is but 156 words long . 
it directs that nih will issue final guidelines within 60 days of passage of this bill . 
sixty days ? 
that is not even enough time to grow a tomato plant . 
i ask , is this realistic ? 
and further , who will influence nih without more congressional guidance ? 
mr. speaker , there is a lot of money to be made in this new field of life science . 
i think congress should know who is likely to be making it , especially when federal funding becomes involved . 
which biogenetic and pharmaceutical firms stand to benefit the most from moving this bill forward ? 
exactly who are they ? 
which immunosuppressant drug companies ? 
do we as members of congress not have a right to know something more from the nonexistent transcript from the committee ? 
i find it most coincidental that last week the south koreans doing research in this arena announced that they had cloned cells , making it appear as though , if congress did not act today , america would fall behind in the world research community . 
i found the timing of that announcement just all too convenient and asked myself , which companies were behind it ? 
in my opinion , the subcommittee and committees of jurisdiction have not met their responsibilities to this congress , by abdicating their hearing responsibility . 
all we have are documents from outside proponents and opponents , and frankly , that is not good enough . 
where is the hearing record to which all members can refer which recounts the struggles of proponents and opponents with the ethical requirements that should be a part of this bill , and not merely leave it up to the national institutes of health ? 
on a matter of such magnitude , where some human embryos will be destroyed in the hope that new cures are made possible , the congress needs to be more responsible . 
i ask my colleagues to vote `` no '' on the degette-castle bill and remand it back to committee . 
