mr. speaker , i rise in opposition to h.r. 810 , which i believe promotes human embryonic stem cell research at taxpayers ' expense . 
now , we have already spent $ 60 million . 
the gentlewoman from colorado ( ms. degette ) xz4001010 says , no , it is not $ 60 million ; it is $ 25 million . 
but we have spent a lot of money , and i think $ 60 million is the right number . 
the gentlewoman says no government taxpayers ; money will be used . 
once a human stem cell is destroyed , who pays for the research thereafter ? 
the u.s. government does . 
the taxpayers do . 
i remind my colleagues that despite all this money , embryonic stem cell research has not resulted in any documented success whatsoever as compared to the astounding success of adult stem cells . 
the gentleman from florida ( mr. weldon ) xz4004271 pointed out he could not even find any success . 
he had to go to some obscure manuals publications to find notice of even the experiments . 
i also notice that there is no cbo estimate on this legislation h.r. 810 . 
how much will this bill cost ? 
we do not know . 
i urge my colleagues to vote against this bill . 
nearly 4 years ago , in august 2001 , president bush announced his executive order limiting federal funding to studies on existing cell lines . 
mr. speaker , the debate we are having today is about slippery-slope fears come tragically true . 
but the slope can get far more steep from here . 
just last week , it was reported that scientists in south korea created scores of cloned human embryos that they then destroyed to produce 11 stem cell lines . 
the age of cloning is upon us . 
also recently in the news is the creation of man-animal hybrids , or chimeras , using animal sperm and human eggs , or human sperm and animal eggs . 
the apocalyptic creations are the inevitable result of what happens when man and government believes it can foster good medical ends from ethically dubious means . 
it is bad enough that our government allows embryonic stem cell research , or that we have not yet outlawed cloning . 
the least that we can do is prevent the further spending of taxpayer dollars on these ill-advised experiments . 
mr. speaker , had either , or both , of the respective stem cell research bills appearing before us for debate and been ruled amendable , i had intended to offer an amendment regarding another alternative to embryonic stem cell research : stem cells from teeth . 
another promising field of stem cell research comes from our very teeth : stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth , shed , aka `` baby '' teeth . 
last week a constituent of mine , marc w. heft , dmd , phd , professor and interim chair , department of oral and maxillofacial and diagnostic sciences of the college of dentistry at the university of florida , pointed this out to me . 
the intramural program of the national institute of dental and craniofacial research , idcr , of the national institutes of health , nih , has been a leader in this exciting line of research . 
on april 21 , 2003 , nih scientists reported that for the first time , `` baby '' teeth , the temporary teeth children begin losing around their sixth birthday , contain a rich supply of stem cells in their dental pulp . 
the scientists said that `` this unexpected discovery could have important implications because the stem cells remain alive inside the tooth for a short time after it falls out of a child 's mouth , suggesting the cells could be readily harvested for research . 
according to the scientists , who published their findings online today in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences , the stem cells are unique compared to many `` adult '' stem cells in the body . 
they are long lived , grow rapidly in culture , and , with careful prompting in the laboratory , have the potential to induce the formation of specialized in addition to the studies of stem cells from dental pulps of deciduous , `` baby '' teeth , there are ongoing studies of stem cells from the periodontium , the region where teeth connect to bone . 
july 8 , 2004 , again , nih scientists also say these cells have `` tremendous potential '' to regenerate the periodontal ligament , a common target of advanced gum -- periodontal -- disease . 
the enthusiasm is based on followup studies , in which the researchers implanted the human adult stem cells into rodents and found most of them had differentiated into a mixture of periodontal ligament -- including the specific fiber bundles that attach tooth to bone -- and the mineralized tissue called cementum that covers the roots of our teeth . 
while most of this work is coming out of the intramural program of nidcr , dr . 
heft shared with me that two involved extramural scientists are dr . 
mary macdougall , university of texas health sciences center at san antonio -- also president of the american association for dental research -- and dr . 
paul krebsbach , university of michigan . 
and so , mr. speaker , i suggest that we continue to foster existing , promising , stem cell research that is regenerative , not destructive . 
