mr. speaker , i would like to share a letter from a young girl in my district : `` dear house of representatives : `` my name is kelsea king . 
i am 14 years old and have been dealing with diabetes for nearly 3 years now . 
there are many challenges in having this disease , both physical and emotional . 
though it may be hard to believe , the emotional pain greatly outweighs the physical pain . 
`` my sister , kendall , was also diagnosed with diabetes 2 years ago . 
she is now 7. it is very hard going through life knowing that both our lives could be shortened by this disease . 
it is also very difficult knowing what this disease makes us prone to , such as heart disease , liver problems , blindness and in extreme cases loss of limb . 
but the most difficult part of all is worrying about passing out due to low blood sugars , or being hospitalized . 
it is too large of a responsibility and too large of a burden for any 7-year-old and even for a 14-year-old . 
`` as you can see , my need for a cure to this disease is very great . 
but i do not want a cure if it takes the lives of others . 
i do not support embryonic stem cell research . 
i believe it is very wrong to take innocent lives for any reason , even if it benefits me . 
there are other ways of a cure . 
we just need proper funding . 
if we work together , we can find a cure through adult stem cell research . 
`` my hope and prayer is for my sister and i to be cured before we are adults so we can both live long and healthy lives . 
no one deserves diabetes but everyone deserves a cure through adult stem cell research. '' the campaign for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research has been a campaign of half-truths , and at times , outright deception . 
advocates of federal funding for destructive embryonic stem cell research do three things consistently : ( 1 ) obfuscate the fact that a living human embryo is killed in the process of extracting the cells . 
( 2 ) obfuscate the fact that there have been no cures , treatments , therapies , or even clinical trials using embryonic stem cells . 
( 3 ) obfuscate the fact that there is unlimited private funding allowed for embryonic stem cell research . 
as chairman of the government reform subcommittee on criminal justice , drug policy and human resources , i sent a letter to the director of the national institutes of health in october , 2002 requesting a detailed report providing comprehensive information about the medical applications of adult and embryonic stem cells . 
it took almost two years to get a response from the nih , and the response omitted many of the advances , applications and trials for adult stem cell research that had already been reported in peer reviewed journals . 
the one thing that was complete in the nih response to our oversight request , was the listing of applications for embryonic stem cells : zero . 
the applications for embryonic stem cell research was zero then , in june of 2004 , and it 's zero now . 
the human applications for adult stem cells currently number 58 , and range from lymphoma to chrones disease to heart damage to immunodeficiency syndrome . 
finally , let me be clear : there is no `` ban '' on embryonic stem cell research . 
there is no limit to the amount of private money that may be devoted to this research . 
the research is being conducted throughout the country . 
the critical fact is that we are responsible for the public purse , and forcing the public to fund unproven research where living human embryos are destroyed is completely unconscionable . 
if private industry sees promise in embryonic stem cell research , you can be certain that investors will find it . 
but the public should not be forced to subsidize a speculative venture involving destruction of human life . 
fourteen-year-old kelsea king , an articulate young constituent of mine , has juvenile diabetes . 
her struggle with this disease is emotionally and physically challenging , but she is strongly opposed to the idea of developing a cure that would involve the destruction of human life . 
as she wrote in a letter to me , `` i believe it is very wrong to take innocent lives for any reason , even if it benefits me. '' i am submitting miss king 's letter in its entirety for the record . 
h.r. 810 requires the public to pay for destructive embryonic research that has no current applications . 
it 's an empty promise to the millions who suffer with disease , and would surely pave the way for embryo cloning . 
i am voting against h.r. 810 , and i urge my colleagues to do the same . 
avila , in , may 23 , 2005 . 
dear house of representatives , my name is kelsea king . 
i am fourteen years old and have been dealing with diabetes for nearly three years now . 
there are many challenges in having this disease , both physical and emotional . 
though it may be hard to believe , the emotional pain greatly outweighs the physical pain . 
my sister , kendall , was also diagnosed with diabetes two years ago . 
she is now seven . 
it is very hard going through life knowing that both our lives could be shortened by this disease . 
it is also very difficult knowing what this disease makes us prone to , such as heart disease , liver problems , blindness , and in extreme cases , loss of limb . 
but the most difficult part of all is worrying about passing out due to low blood sugars , or being hospitalized for ketoacidosis ( which is caused by blood sugar being too high ) . 
it is too large of a responsibility and too large of a burden for any seven-year-old , and even for a fourteen-year-old . 
as you can see , my need for a cure to this disease is very great . 
but i do not want a cure if it takes the lives of others . 
i do not support embryonic stem cell research . 
i believe it is very wrong to take innocent lives for any reason , even if it benefits me . 
there are other ways of a cure ; we just need proper funding . 
there is no proof that embryonic stem cell research is better or more successful than adult stem cell research . 
if we work together , we can find a cure through adult stem cell research . 
my hope and prayer is for my sister and i to be cured before we are adults so we can both live long and healthy lives . 
no one deserves diabetes , but everyone deserves a cure through adult stem cell research . 
my sister and i need this , as well as the millions of other children in america who are afflicted with this disease . 
please help us -- support adult stem cell research ! 
sincerely , 