mr. speaker , this is a difficult issue for me . 
i am a diabetic . 
i have diabetes in my family . 
i am cochairman of the congressional diabetes caucus . 
my wife is a full-time diabetes educator . 
she has spent her entire time as a health care professional educating and working with diabetics . 
the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 and the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. langevin ) xz4002300 are very good friends of mine . 
i have studied all their information . 
i have tried to be as open about this as i possibly can be . 
but i can say , mr. speaker , that in the end it comes down to not eliminating any type of research , because that is allowable in this country ; it is whether or not we should use federal funds . 
california is using some $ 3 billion right now on what this bill is attempting to deal with . 
in the end , mr. speaker , this is a very personal decision . 
it is one that i agonized over . 
i am not a medical professional . 
i consulted with all four of my friends who are medical doctors in this chamber . 
they have studied medicine , they understand medical research , they understand bioethics far better than i ever will , and i come down on their side . 
i come down on the side of life . 
i will oppose the bill that is being offered by my friend , the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 and my friend , the gentlewoman from colorado ( ms. degette ) xz4001010 and i will support the alternative that is being offered by this conference . 
