mr. speaker , i want to thank the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 and the gentlewoman from colorado ( ms. degette ) xz4001010 for their leadership on this issue . 
like millions of american families , my own has been impacted by the loss of loved ones with debilitating diseases . 
my grandmother , alvana carpenter , died of cancer , and my first cousin betty stolz , to ms . 
we lost them too soon . 
that is one of the reasons i have joined this unparalleled and growing bipartisan coalition to cosponsor h.r. 810 , along with over 200 democrats and republicans in this house . 
people from the show me state were polled not too long ago , and three-fourths of them were in support of this research continuing . 
just like polls around the country , when nancy reagan called to lift the bush administration ban on this research in 2004 , three-fourths of americans have come to the support of this cause . 
there is great promise in this research . 
since its isolation of the embryonic stem cell in 1998 , research has made dramatic progress in the u.s. we can not and we must not abandon our leadership role in the scientific community and in establishing strong ethical standards for this research , which are incorporated in this bill . 
i also became involved in this debate because of the extraordinary citizens that have come to advocate on its behalf , advocates like bernie frank , an accomplished st . 
louisian who has volunteered for the parkinson 's action network ; advocates like dr . 
huskey from washington university , who suffers with ms and continues her advocacy ; advocates like rabbi susan talve and her young daughter , adina , who suffers from a congenital heart defect . 
early stem cell research shows the potential to discover ways to grow new heart muscle cells . 
mr. speaker , the promise of stem cell research is real . 
science , not politics , should determine the future of this vital research . 
we stand here with the tools in our hands to ease the pain and suffering of so many across the country and around the world . 
to forgo potential life-saving cures is simply unacceptable and unconscionable . 
