madam speaker , reclaiming my time , i thank the gentleman very much for that contribution .  while we are carrying on these discussions with the white house and nih and hhs and with the outside groups , the president 's council on bioethics submits a white paper ; and in this white paper they go over four potential techniques that might produce pluripotent stem cells , which is another way of saying the equivalent of embryonic stem cells , without destroying or harming an embryo .  and what our bill does , madam speaker , is simply ask nih to please explore these potentials , first of all , in animal models ; and the bill gives them $ 15 million to begin this exploration .  i just wanted to spend just a moment talking about the four things that are in here because it may be of interest to a number of people .  the first is called pluripotent stem cells derived from organismically dead embryos .  well , this says that all these embryos i had mentioned earlier , all these embryos will not live .  and when an embryo is moribund , it is not going to divide anymore , then it is the equivalent of a brain dead person and there should be no problem taking cells from it like they would take organs from a brain dead person .  one might have a little question about the vitality of the cell they take from that embryo , but at least ethically if the embryo is dead or moribund , the equivalent of a brain dead person , they could take an embryo from it .  the second procedure , and the next chart shows a little clip from that , is one in which , down at the bottom here , it says `` a similar idea was proposed by representative roscoe bartlett. '' this was my recommendation in 2001 .  and this simply says they go into an early embryo , as i have mentioned , and take out a cell without hurting the embryo because mother nature or god , whoever people think makes identical twins , has been doing this for a very long time .  our bill simply asks the nih to do this in animal models to make sure that it is safe and efficacious .  a third technique is called pluripotent stem cells derived from biological artifacts .  this is an interesting one .  and what the proposal there is that they take an ovum and they take the nucleus out of the ovum and then they take an altered nucleus out of a somatic cell .  you alter the nucleus so that you have turned off some of the genes , and then you put that nucleus inside the egg .  now , why would you do that ?  because in the cytoplasm of the egg outside the nucleus of the egg , there are some factors which turn on and turn off genes and kind of control what happens inside the nucleus .  so now they have turned off some genes so this thing will divide ; that will never be a baby because they have kind of messed up the genetics .  well , if they can never be a baby , then maybe ethically you can take stem cells from it , and this is something that really needs to be explored .  these several techniques are all open for investigation .  oh , the fourth one of these is pluripotent stem cells by differentiation .  i mentioned the differentiation of cells .  that is when they decide that they are going to be just this or that , and all the cells they produce after that are just that kind of cell .  now , sometimes , you can take a cell and kind of put it in an environment where you have confused it , you have shocked it , you have done something to it , so it forgets what it was supposed to be , and it starts making cells , tissues that it would not ordinarily make in that stage of differentiation .  so what our bill does is to permit the research , particularly on two of these , the nucleus transfer and the taking of cells from the early blastomere .  our bill has received input from the white house , from the conference of catholic bishops , from right the life communities , so there is a broad spectrum of individuals and organizations out there that are supportive of what we are doing .  in the few moments left , madam speaker , i would like to note that there have been a plethora of articles very recently about this , and i would like to submit these for the record .  they are not very long , and i will insert them into the record .  here is national geographic , july 2005 .  stem cells , a big article , very good article on stem cells there .  here is a letter of may of this year from dr .  battey who is the chief spokesman for stem cell research at the national institutes of health who is quite supportive of our bill and what we propose to do , and here is a very interesting op-ed piece written by richard doerflinger who represents the catholic bishops .  by the way , i need to give credit where credit is due .  it was richard doerflinger who made the great suggestion that the first thing you do with that cell you take from the early embryo is to create a repair kit so that all during the life of that person , they will have frozen the ability to produce a new liver if they need it , islets of langerhans , spinal cord cells , whatever they need .  there is a great op-ed piece by richard doerflinger who explains his support for our bill .  he says , representative tuesday , july 12 , associated press , lawmakers wary of backup stem cell bill .  for those who would like to see just the castle-degette bill passed , our bill , and the president , by the way , says that if that other bill gets to his desk , he will veto it .  for those of us who believe that we really ought to research stem cells , we really look forward to a bill which the president can support .  stem cell legislation is at risk , july 9 , washington post .  gop probes nondestructive cell research , washington ap , june 29 .  and then just today , in congressional quarterly , congress considers numerous stem cell bills .  it mentions our bill in the house , and that bill frist is expected to draft a related bill in the senate .  i am very pleased , madam speaker , that my background has permitted me to understand some of the potential here , my experience with my grandmother , with these little diabetic kids , my profound pro-life commitment .  i am very pleased that i was able to propose a potential solution that i think meets the morals and the demands of both sides of this issue .  madam speaker , i ask unanimous consent to insert the following articles : and human services , bethesda , maryland , may 23 , 2005 .  dear mr .  bartlett : i am pleased that drs .  allen spiegel and story landis were able to meet with you , mr. otis and mr. aitken during your visit to the national institutes of health ( nih ) last month to discuss ways to derive human embryonic stem cells ( hescs ) .  drs .  spiegel and landis were serving as acting co-chairs of the nih stem cell task force during my leave of absence from this position .  earlier this month , i returned to chair the task force .  nih shares your enthusiasm on the therapeutic potentials of hesc research and thank you for your continued support of this field .  drs .  spiegel and landis briefed me about your april 26th meeting .  i am also aware that you have had previous meetings with nih officials , including myself , lana skirboll and richard tasca , on this topic .  you propose the possibility of using a cell ( or two ) removed from the 8-cell stage human embryo undergoing preimplantation genetic diagnosis ( pgd ) to : ( 1 ) create a `` personal repair kit '' made up of cells removed from the embryo and stored for future use ; and ( 2 ) for deriving human embryonic stem cell lines .  you suggested that creating hesc lines in this manner would avoid ethical questions surrounding the fate of a human embryo .  live births resulting from embryos which undergo pgd and are subsequently implanted seem to suggest that this procedure does not harm the embryo , however , there are some reports that a percentage of embryos do not survive this procedure .  in addition , long-term studies would be needed to determine whether this procedure produces subtle or later-developing injury to children nih is not aware of any published scientific data that has confirmed the establishment of hesc lines from a single cell removed from an 8-cell stage embryo .  we are aware of the published research of dr .  yury verlinsky in the reproductive genetics institute in chicago that showed that a hesc line can be derived by culturing a human morula-staged embryo ( reproductive biomedicine online , 2004 vo .  9 , no .  6 , 623-629 , verlinsky , strelchenko , et al ) .  it is also worth noting , however , that in these experiments , the entire morula was plated and used to derive the hesc lines .  the human morula is generally composed of 10-30 cells and is the stage that immediately precedes the formation of the blastocyst .  at the april 26th meeting , nih agreed that such experiments might be pursued in animals , including non-human primates .  that is , animal experiments could be conducted to determine whether it is possible to derive hescs from a single cell of the 8-cell or morula stage embryo .  to date , to the best of our knowledge no such derivations have been successful .  nih also does not know whether these experiments have been tried and failed in animals and/or humans and , therefore , have not been reported in the literature .  nih agreed to explore whether there have been any attempts to use single cells from the 8-cell or morula stage of an animal embryo to start embryonic stem cell lines by consulting with scientists that are currently conducting embryo research .  from these discussions , these scientists believe it is worth attempting experiments using a single cell from an early stage embryo or cells from a morula of a non-human primate to establish an embryonic stem cell line .  of note , a recent 2003 paper from canada shows that when single human blastomeres are cultured from early cleavage stage embryos , before the morula stage , that there is an increased incidence of chromosomal abnormalities .  even with hescs derived from the inner cell mass of the human blastocyst , the odds of starting a hesc line from a single cell are long , perhaps one in 20 tries .  thus , the odds of being able to start with a single cell from an 8-celled or morula staged embryo are equally challenging .  this would make it difficult to accomplish the goal of establishing `` repair kits '' and hesc lines from any single pgd embryo .  ( fertil steril , 2003 june , 79 ( 6 ) : 1304-11 , bielanska , et al ) .  it is possible , however , that improvements in technologies for deriving and culturing hescs may improve these odds .  nih concludes that the possibility of establishing a stem cell line from an 8-cell or morula stage embryo can only be determined with additional research .  nih would welcome receiving an investigator-initiated grant application on this topic using animal embryos .  the human embryo research ban would preclude the use of funds appropriated under the labor/hhs appropriations act for pursuing this research with human embryos .  as with all grant applications , the proposal must be deemed meritorious for funding by peer review and then will be awarded research funds if sufficient funds are available .  it also bears keeping in mind that it may take years to determine the answer .  at the april 26th meeting , you had mentioned that twins can develop when the inner cell mass splits in the blastocyst and forms two embryos enclosed in a common trophoblast .  you asked if cells from the inner cell mass could be safely removed without harming the embryo .  in animal studies , it has been shown that the blastocyst can be pierced to remove cells of the inner cell mass and the embryo appears to retain its original form but it is not known whether the embryo will result in the birth of a healthy baby .  since this experiment in human embryos at either the morula or the blastocyst stage would require evaluations of not only normal birth but also unknown long term risks to the person even into adulthood , it would have to be considered a very high risk and ethically questionable endeavor .  because of the risk of harm , this research would also be ineligible for federal funding .  you had also asked nih about the latest stage in development that an embryo can be artificially implanted into the womb .  we know that infertility clinics transfer embryos at the blastocyst stage ( approximately day 5 in human embryo development ) as well as at earlier stages .  finally , i am providing an additional resource that was discussed at the april meeting .  i have enclosed a copy of a recently released white paper developed by the president 's council on bioethics ( pcb ) on alternative sources of human pluripotent stem cells .  in this white paper , the pcb raised many ethical , scientific and practical concerns about alternate sources for deriving human pluripotent stem cells without harming the embryo .  your proposal is specifically discussed in this report .  i hope this information is helpful .  sincerely , & lt ; center & gt ; james f. battey , jr. , m.d. , ph.d. , & lt ; /center & gt ; & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; em & gt ; chairman , nih stem cell task force and director , national institute on deafness and other communication disorders. & lt ; /em & gt ; gop probes non-destructive cell research washington ( ap ) . -- embryonic stem cell research that does n't destroy budding human life ?  right now , it 's possible only in theory , or on animals .  but those alternatives to the most promising stem cell science are enough to win the attention of anti-abortion republicans and president bush .  senate majority leader bill frist and other gop lawmakers are considering legislation drawn from a report in may by bush 's council on bioethics , which studied research that might carry medical promise but is in its infancy .  in some cases , the research is ethically objectionable , the panel wrote .  nonetheless , it said four types of studies `` deserve the nation 's careful and serious consideration. '' bush was receptive to funding the theoretical approaches rather than medically more promising research that destroys embryo , three lawmakers who have discussed the subject with him told the associated press .  `` there was a sense around the table that if we could discover a way to extract the stem cells without destroying the embryo , that that was something that nearly everyone could support , '' said representative david dreier , r-calif. , who discussed the option with bush at a white house meeting earlier this month .  `` the president was very enthusiastic about that .  he clearly supported it. '' another possible compromise , being drafted by representative roscoe bartlett , r-md. , a biological engineer , would send $ 15 million to the national institutes of health for stem cell research on animal embryos , according to a draft obtained by the ap .  `` congressman bartlett sought and received technical assistance from the administration to ensure that the bill that he is working on would be consistent with the president 's principles and goals , '' said lisa wright , bartlett 's spokeswoman .  bush has repeatedly said he would veto a bill the house passed last month backing standard embryonic stem cell research and any similar version by the senate , which is expected to turn to the issue in july .  `` we 'll probably consider a number of bills , '' frist told the ap .  senator rick santorum , r-pa. , who also attended the meeting with bush , said he may try to amend one of congress ' must-pass spending bills to provide federal money for specific studies outlined in the bioethics council 's report .  senator gordon smith , r-ore. , said that in his own talk with bush , he found the president `` looking for a way to stay within his ethical boundaries. '' almost two-thirds of americans say they support embryonic stem cell research and a majority of people say they would like to see fewer restrictions on taxpayer funding for those studies , according to recent polling .  the proposal may free senators from a tight spot between bush 's veto threat and public pressure for embryonic stem cell research , which has shown promise in the search for cures for parkinson 's , alzheimer 's and other diseases .  but it also would spend millions of dollars on studies whose value is speculative .  some of the techniques have not even been attempted in animals .  frist , who is a heart and lung transplant surgeon , told the ap at least three of the processes on the bioethics council 's list met his criteria for funding embryonic stem cell research .  `` all of the research you have there stops short of the creation of an embryo for experimental purposes , and short of destruction of an embryo for experimental purposes , '' he said .  `` that is the direction i think we should explore. '' those are the same boundaries set out by bush , who in a 2001 executive order prohibited federal funding of any research using human embryonic stem cells harvested after aug .  9 of that year .  senator tom harkin , d-iowa , a chief supporter of traditional embryonic stem cell research , shrugged at the notion of an alternative .  `` most of these ideas are nothing but theories .  they have n't been tested , '' he said wednesday .  the processes studied by the council could theoretically develop embryonic stem cell lines -- which can develop into any cell in the body -- without harming the embryo .  they would : -- derive stem cells from technically dead embryos .  when embryos frozen during in-vitro fertilization are thawed , some never resume dividing and thus are discarded .  no one knows whether scientists could find healthy stem cells inside an embryo already so damaged that it would n't grow , or coax them to live when transferred out of that embryo .  -- extract stem cells from two-day-old embryos using a non-lethal biopsy technique .  until now , most stem cells have been culled from embryos that contain 100 or so cells .  however , in vitro fertilization clinics frequently extract one cell , called a blastomere , from a younger , eight-celled embryo to perform genetic testing -- to tell , for instance , whether some embryos will have a disease like cystic fibrosis .  this testing does n't destroy the embryo , so women can choose to have only healthy ones implanted .  according to one report , more than 1 , 000 healthy children have been born after blastomere testing .  the questions are whether enough stem cells could be culled from a single blastomere to be worthwhile , and which embryos would be used .  & lt ; p & gt ; & amp ; nbsp ; & amp ; nbsp ; & amp ; nbsp ; -- develop stem cells derived from specially engineered tissue .  one such technique is called `` altered nuclear transfer , '' essentially cloning in a way that grows only tissue , not an actual embryo .  this process has n't been attempted yet .  -- turning back the clock on older cells so they again become `` pluripotent , '' the scientific term for the ability to turn into any tissue .  scientists already are trying to do this to some degree through `` adult stem cell '' research , such as turning blood-making cells into cells that produce liver or muscle tissues .  it 's not clear whether older cells can be returned to an embryonic state. & lt ; center & gt ; & lt ; pre & gt ; -- & lt ; /pre & gt ; & lt ; /center & gt ; lawmakers wary of backup stem cell bill washington ( ap ) . -- president bush and his conservative senate allies are trying to peel votes from a stem cell bill by offering alternative legislation that would instead fund promising but unproven studies , several senators said tuesday .  `` i 'm all for these alternative sources , ( but ) not as a substitute , not as some way of stopping what we 're about to do , '' said tom harkin , d-iowa , senate sponsor of a bill already passed by the house that would end bush 's 2001 ban on federal funding for new human embryonic stem cell studies .  several scientists testifying tuesday before the labor , health and human services appropriations subcommittee agreed that harkin 's bill , cosponsored by panel chairman arlen specter , r-pa. , should be passed before even their own research receives federal funding .  `` it 's a no-brainer , '' said robert lanza , one of the scientists working on a process by which embryonic stem cells are derived without destroying life .  `` i do not think we should keep the scientific community or the patient community waiting. '' another scientist at the table , william b. hurlbut of stanford university , said vital science that could someday lead to cures of diseases like alzheimer 's and parkinson 's must have the engine of public consensus behind it .  a member of the president 's council on bioethics , hurlbut noted that large sections of the public believe human embryonic stem cell research is immoral because it destroys the embryo , which many , including bush and some congressional conservatives , consider a budding human life .  government , he said , should set `` a coherent moral platform to guide our science. '' but staring down a self-imposed aug .  1 deadline for voting on the legislation , senate negotiators were no closer tuesday to agreeing on a list of bills to debate on the senate floor .  still swirling were talks over a six-bill package of legislation , including the harkin-specter measure , and others that would fund alternative methods or ban certain stem cell and cloning techniques altogether .  specter , a cancer patient also helming the fight over supreme court nominations , said he was growing impatient with the delay and made clear that his bill is the first priority .  `` if we can pass the house bill , specter-harkin , that is the most important bill to be enacted , '' specter said as he gaveled open the labor , health and human services subcommittee hearing .  testifying were james battey , chairman of the national institutes of health stem cell task force , and lanza , who has done research into deriving stem cells from a single animal cell without destroying the embryo .  the house approved the harkin-specter bill , 238-194 , on may 24 .  that is far less than the two-thirds support that would be needed to override a veto bush has threatened , and it was unclear that either house of congress had the two-thirds vote necessary to override a veto .  the bill numbers are h.r. 810 and s. 471 .  stem cells without embryos ?  the battle lines of the stem cell debate have become familiar .  in one corner we have embryonic stem cells , obtained by destroying one-week-old human embryos .  the cells are `` pluripotent , '' capable of producing all the 210 cell types in the human body .  in the other corner are stem cells obtained harmlessly from adult tissues , umbilical cord blood and placentas .  these pose no ethical problem , but supposedly are more limited .  herein lies the alleged tension between science and ethics .  we can cure devastating diseases , or respect embryonic human life , but not both .  that dichotomy has always been misleading .  embryonic stem cells are far from curing any disease , while adult and umbilical cord blood stem cells have helped many thousands of patients .  yet scientists still claim that cells obtained by destroying early human life have special advantages that can not be duplicated .  this claim is about to be tested .  just before congress 's july 4 recess , representative roscoe bartlett ( r-md ) introduced the `` respect for life pluripotent stem cell act. '' it instructs the national institutes of health to fund research in obtaining `` pluripotent '' stem cells without creating or harming human embryos .  mr. bartlett  knows whereof he speaks .  he holds a ph.d .  in physiology , and bases his proposal on a report by the president 's council on bioethics and the latest research findings .  his bill outlines two ways to get pluripotent stem cells without harming embryos .  one is to remove the cells from embryos without harming or destroying them .  the bill would fund such efforts in animal embryos , to see if this can be safe enough to consider doing in humans .  the other approach would produce embryo-like stem cells without creating embryos at all .  a dozen studies now indicate that umbilical cord blood and adult tissues contain stem cells that may be as versatile as embryonic stem cells .  in addition , cutting-edge research suggests that adult cells can be `` reprogrammed '' in several ways into pluripotent stem cells .  one avenue is dubbed `` ant-oar '' -- altered nuclear transfer by oocyte assisted reprogramming .  `` nuclear transfer '' is the cloning method that made dolly the sheep .  the nucleus of a body cell is combined with an egg deprived of its own nucleus .  signals in the egg activate a much wider range of genes in that nucleus , so it no longer directs one specialized type of cell but begins the development of a whole new organism .  what if the egg and the body cell were altered in advance so that , from the beginning , the result is not a one-celled embryo , but a pluripotent stem cell like those now obtained by destroying embryos ?  there are good scientific reasons to believe this can be done .  and many catholic scientists and ethicists have declared that it can and should be explored ( see www.eppc.org/news/newsid.2375/news x & lt ; center & gt ; detail .  asp ) .  & lt ; /center & gt ; it would be good news indeed if modern science ends up resolving some moral dilemmas that an irresponsible use of science has created .  representative bartlett and his colleagues are helping to demonstrate what has always been true : science and ethics were meant to be allies , not enemies .  stem cell legislation is at risk promising but still unproven new approaches to creating human embryonic stem cells have suddenly jeopardized what once appeared to be certain senate passage of a bill to loosen president bush 's four-year-old restrictions on human embryo research .  the techniques are enticing to many conservative activists and scientists because they could yield medically valuable human embryonic stem cells without the creation or destruction embryos .  embryonic stem cells are coveted because they have the capacity to become virtually every kind of body tissue and perhaps repair ailing organs , but they are controversial because days-old human embryos must be destroyed to retrieve them .  `` the new science that may involve embryo research but not require destruction of an embryo is tremendously exciting , '' senate majority leader bill frist ( r-tenn. ) said recently .  `` it would get you outside of the boundaries of the ethical constraints. '' but because the value of these new scientific methods remains speculative , they have complicated the political calculus in the highly partisan senate , which could take up the issue as early as next week .  proponents of embryonic stem cell research are divided over how strongly to promote the new work because of fears it will undermine efforts to expand federal funding of conventional embryo research , which they say has better odds of success .  but some opponents of embryo research are uncomfortable with the emerging alternatives , too .  that is because they involve cells that closely resemble human embryos , raising novel questions about what , exactly , is a human life .  the science poses a strategic dilemma for both groups : should they support newly circulating legislation that would fund the new methods or try to defeat what some decry as a trojan horse ?  `` this is something that could be very valuable if it works , no doubt about it , '' stanford university stem cell researcher irving weissman said of the new work .  `` but do n't tell me we should stop doing [ embryo ] research until we find out , because people 's lives are at stake. '' in may , the house easily passed bipartisan legislation allowing federally funded scientists to study stem cells derived from some of the thousands of human embryos destined for disposal at fertility clinics -- a significant expansion of the bush policy .  until this week , senators arlen specter ( r-pa. ) and orrin g. hatch ( r-utah ) expressed confidence that they had more than enough votes to pass the same bill in the senate , despite threats of a presidential veto .  last week , however , opponents began circulating a competing bill that shifts attention toward the more distant but ethically more palatable new procedures .  the house version , sponsored by representative roscoe g. bartlett ( r-md. ) , was written with assistance from the white house , a bartlett spokeswoman said .  the administration is eager for bush to sign legislation supportive of at least some types of stem cell research , according to several lobbyists close to the congressional negotiations .  signing such a bill could take some of the sting out of a veto that is sure to infuriate patient groups and could rile a majority of americans , who tell pollsters they back expanded funding of embryonic stem cell research .  during the fourth of july recess , many senate republicans struggled with the question of whether the new legislation should be brought to the floor as a substitute for the house-passed bill or as a competing bill -- and if both were to come up , then how to vote on each .  at least a handful of senators have hinted in recent days that they may transfer their vote to the new bill , hill sources said -- among them hatch , johnny isakson ( r-ga. ) and kay bailey hutchison ( r-tex. ) .  the issue will get its first formal airings at a senate subcommittee hearing tuesday and at a hill media event on wednesday at which pro-research celebrities michael j. fox and dana reeve , widow of `` superman '' star christopher reeve , will call for an immediate loosening of bush 's policy .  some supporters of the research say they would be happy if both bills passed .  but for some of the more ardent advocates of an immediate expansion of the bush policy , bartlett 's alternative legislation is a diversion .  `` do n't stop embryonic stem cell research now , hoping there will be some other way to do it in the future , '' senator tom harkin ( d-iowa ) said in an interview .  `` these alternative methods of deriving stem cells -- we do n't know whether they 'll work .  the one thing we do know how to do is derive embryonic stem cells. '' the new techniques fall into two major categories .  in one , a single cell is removed from a days-old embryo created for fertility purposes and coaxed to become a self-replicating colony of stem cells , leaving the remainder of the embryo to develop normally .  the technique shows great promise , according to researchers at advanced cell technology inc .  in worcester , mass. , who pioneered it .  but critics have raised the possibility that individual cells removed from such young embryos may have the biological potential to become embryos themselves , which would mean their destruction or cultivation as colonies could still raise ethical issues .  bush 's council on bioethics also expressed concerns recently that such a technique may subtly harm an embryo , even if it does not kill it .  `` you may get a human being , but you may not get the same human being , '' said william b. hurlbut , a stanford professor and a council member .  `` you might find that late in life , there are some strange differences between those people and others. '' hurlbut is the leading proponent of a different approach , which he calls altered nuclear transfer , or ant .  it involves the creation of an embryo -- or what hurlbut says is something akin to an embryo -- that lacks a gene necessary for the development of a placenta .  because a placenta is required for an embryo to implant in a woman 's womb , the altered embryo would be genetically incapable of becoming a fetus or a baby .  for many , that would obviate ethical concerns about destroying it to get its stem cells .  researchers have tried the technique in mice with some success , but its usefulness as a source of human stem cells remains hypothetical .  some , such as weissman , think the difficulties inherent in making such a system work are being overlooked by hurlbut , who is a physician but not a research scientist .  `` i 've been telling bill , `why do n't you go work in a lab this summer ?  why not see how easy or hard it really is ?  ' `` said weissman .  he said he has no problem with the funding of such research as long as it does not interfere with increased funding for existing programs of embryo research .  practical or not , ant has gained a quickly widening circle of support .  the roman catholic archbishop of san francisco , william j. levada , has written a letter to bush assuring the president of his support .  but other conservative leaders have mixed views on whether it makes sense to pursue the new alternative therapies or to focus single-mindedly on defeating any expansion of the current policy .  `` i have significant concerns about all the alternatives , '' said david prentice , senior fellow for life sciences at the family research council , which he said does not yet have a formal position on the science .  jessica echard , executive director of the eagle forum , the public policy organization founded by phyllis schlafly , said her group opposes `` middle ground '' legislation that pursues alternative methods for producing embryonic stem cells .  `` most scientists will say it 's never enough , '' she said .  `` we will be giving ground to more and more unethical research . '' 