mr. speaker , i have a prepared statement i am going to put into the record on this bill , h.r. 810 , but i am going to actually speak from the heart because i think that this is a very important issue .  most of the issues that come before this body , there is an automatic position on .  it may be the republican position , the democrat position , the texas position , or it could be the committee position .  and we come to the floor and we , almost by rote , say what is the particular position , and that is the way we vote .  but every now and then an issue comes up that is really an issue of conscience .  it is an issue that deserves to be thoughtfully considered , debated , and decided on its own merit .  now , there are many members today that believe this particular issue is an issue that they feel so strongly about , on either side , that this is an easy issue for them , it is an automatic issue .  they are going to be for it or against it for very valid reasons .  but there are some of us , and i am in that camp today , that believe it is not an easy issue .  i come to the floor as a 100 percent lifetime voting member on prolife issues , minus one vote , in over 21 years .  on all the votes that the prolife coalition at the state and federal levels have scored as scorable votes , my record until this year was 100 percent , and i voted the wrong way on one issue so far this year from the prolife position .  so that is not a bad record , 100 percent minus one .  and after this vote today , i am going to be 100 percent minus two .  why is that ?  well , part of it is personal and part of it deals with tragedies in my family in the past .  my father died of complications of diabetes at the age of 71 .  my brother , jon kevin barton , died of liver cancer at the age of 44 .  my first granddaughter , bryn barton , died in the womb 2 days before delivery with complications of the umbilical cord , which had become crimped , and she was actually born dead .  maybe the research we are debating today could not have helped any of those diseases or could not have helped my granddaughter , but maybe it could .  i am also going to vote for castle-degette because of the future , not just the past .  my wife terri and i are expecting a baby in september , jack kevin barton , named after her late father and my late brother , jon kevin barton .  he may come into this world with some disease .  hopefully not .  i have three children that are already alive , brad , alison , and kristin .  i have two stepchildren , lindsay and cullen .  i have three grandchildren that are living , blake , brent and bailey barton .  maybe they will live healthy , productive lives and they will never need some therapeutic breakthrough , but maybe they will .  maybe they will .  now , we just voted for an expansion of cord blood and bone marrow research , which is a very , very good deal , and it deals with adult stem cells .  and maybe the breakthrough is going to come in adult stem cells .  i hope it does .  i would love it .  but maybe , just maybe , it is going to come because of embryonic stem cells .  now , the president adopted a position in early 2001 that said the existing stem cell lines then in existence could be federally funded for research .  they thought there were about 78 lines .  it turned out that there were 22 they are using , there are 16 that are frozen , and there may be one or two more that might be used .  but in any event , none of those lines that are currently allowed to be used for research purposes at the federal level have been shown to have that breakthrough stem cell .  there are 200 adult cells in the body .  the hope of stem cell research , whether it is adult or embryonic , is that we will find that one perfect cell that can be replicated into any of the other cells .  it is assumed , and it is an assumption , not a fact , that the plasticity of the embryonic cell is better and that there is a greater likelihood , although the research has only been done for the last 7 or 8 years , that there is a likelihood there might be a greater potential .  and i want to emphasize might be .  so where i come down is , let us look at all the avenues .  we just voted for smith-barton-young .  let us also vote for castle-degette and look at all of our resources .  that is why i am going to vote `` yes. '' mr. speaker , i rise to manage the time of debate on h.r. 810 , legislation designed to expand the number of sources of embryonic stem cell lines that may be the subject of federally funded research .  the bill is straightforward , yet the policy concerns surrounding this bill are anything but black and white .  before i yield time to my colleagues , i want to clarify a few of the following facts .  what the sponsors of this bill are trying to do is create enough lines of embryonic stem cells to allow basic scientific research to move forward .  many scientists believe that once we can identify a perfect , undifferentiated stem call , it will lead to significant scientific breakthroughs and the discovery of cures for many diseases .  currently , there are approximately 22 lines of embryonic stem cells that are available for federally funded research .  this number is far below the estimated number of stem cell lines that were thought to exist in august of 2001 , when the president announced his stem cell policy .  when president bush announced that federal research dollars could be used for the first time on then existing stem cells , it was believed that there were at least 60 viable lines of stem cells that could be used for this research .  for a variety of reasons , not all of these potential lines are now available for research .  we will also eventually need additional embryonic stem cell lines to make further scientific advances .  in recent conversations with leading stem cell researchers , they indicated to me that all lines of embryonic stem cells eventually become exhausted .  in order to produce clinical therapies , it is likely that researchers will also need more embryonic stem cell lines , of different genetic variations , than are presently eligible to receive federal support .  in addition , the majority of the existing embryonic stem cell lines eligible for federal support use mouse feeder cells , which will make it nearly impossible for these embryonic stem cell lines to be adopted in clinical use .  for all of these reasons , researchers believe that the current number of embryonic stem cell lines will have to be increased .  it is difficult to take an ideologically pure position on this issue .  president bush recognized this on august 9 , 2001 .  on recognizing the profound potential benefits of embryonic stem cell research , president bush permitted for the first time federal taxpayer dollars to be spent on embryonic stem cell research .  for my entire career in congress , i have been a staunch defender of the culture of life and opposed all forms of abortion .  at the same time , i believe we have an obligation to improve existing lives and do what we can to make them better in the future .  today , on this difficult issue , members will need to vote their consciences .  my decision to support this bill was a difficult one , which i came to only after much personal struggle and reflection .  my decision was shaped , in part , by the painful experiences of my own family .  we lost my brother jon in 2000 , at the age of 44 , after a long struggle with liver cancer .  my father died after suffering from complications resulting from diabetes .  let me tell you for a moment about my brother , jon .  he was younger than me .  he and his wife , jennifer , had two children , jake and jace .  he was a state district judge in texas .  they told jon he had liver cancer when he was just 41 years old .  we tried everything and , in fact , his cancer went into remission .  the next year , it came back .  jon died in just three months short of his 44th birthday .  i offered to give him part of my liver , but the doctors said he was too far-gone and it would n't work .  that was five years ago .  jake is now 15 , and jace is 12 .  every time i see them and their mom , i think of jon and wonder what stem cell research could have done for our family .  i can not know the truth with absolute certainty , but my heart says that my brother and my father might be with me today if their doctors had access to treatments from stem cell research .  their lives were precious to me and to our family .  i come to my decision on this vote because i believe in life , and in the future .  if a vote today can save other families from losing brothers and fathers , my conscience will not permit any other decision .  i fully understand that some will say i am just wrong , or blinded by personal emotion .  many who disagree with me are my friends , and i completely respect their views and their advice .  they are good people , and good people with the same facts sometimes come to different conclusions .  now , a few others will say that death is simply a part of life .  no , it is not .  i do not believe that we can ever accept that proposition without setting out on an extraordinary and dangerous path .  life is to be cherished and extended , and death is to be fought and never accepted .  my father and my brother died because illnesses took them .  if i can do something to cure illness and thwart death for other families , i will because i must .  scientists believe that expanded embryonic stem cell research holds the potential to find cures for diseases like cancer or diabetes .  it is my hope that supporting this bill will mean that many other american families will never have to endure the suffering and loss that my family went through .  i believe that my obligation is to help advance science to make human life better now and in the future , in a manner that is consistent with judeo-christian ethics .  as we move forward with debate on this bill , my only request is that my colleagues try to respect one another and the deeply held beliefs on both sides of this very complex issue .  mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time .  