i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time .  mr. speaker , the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle )  and the gentlewoman from colorado ( ms. degette )  deserve our thanks for sponsoring the stem cell research enhancement act and working with so many families who have been impacted by diseases that may find cures as a result of this vital research .  their work and dedication on this legislation has been tremendous and praiseworthy .  i also thank them for giving me the opportunity to cast one of the most important votes i will ever make in congress .  almost everyone has lost some family member prematurely .  i think of the grandmother , whom i never met , who died when her daughter , my mother , was only 16 .  i think of my mother-in-law who never had the opportunity to know her grandchild who is now 25 .  i think of my cousin , who was brilliant and never got to realize his full potential .  embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure disease and save lives in ways never dreamed of .  and it is only 6 years old .  these are discarded embryos that were never in the womb .  they were not taken from it and they were not put into it .  but they can help save lives .  that is why it is so important that we not only pass this legislation today , but that the president signs this bill into law .  sometimes ideology can box you in and cause you to make wrong and harmful decisions .  i think it is time we recognize the dark ages are over .  galileo and copernicus have been proven right .  the world is in fact round .  the earth does revolve around the sun .  i believe god gave us intellect to differentiate between imprisoning dogma and sound ethical science , which is what we must do here today .  i want history to look back at this congress and say that in the face of the age-old tension between religion and science , the members here allowed critical scientific research to advance while respecting important ethical questions that surrounded it .  we know that by allowing embryonic stem cell research to go forward , treatments and prevention for diseases will not come to us overnight .  