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Senior Citizen Politics
NIH Director Disagrees with Bush, Wants Fed Funding
for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Elias Zerhouni tells Senate committee he supports
lifting Bush restrictions on federal funds
 March
20, 2007 -
NIH Director Elias
Zerhouni on Monday during a
Senate Appropriations Committee
subcommittee hearing on National Institutes of Health funding for fiscal
year 2008 said that he supports lifting restrictions on federal funding
for human embryonic stem cell research, the
Los Angeles Times reports
(Alonso-Zaldivar/Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, 3/20). Federal funding for
embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using
embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a
policy announced by President Bush on that date.
The House in January voted 253-174 to pass the Stem
Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (HR
3,
S 5), which would allow
federal funding for research using stem cells derived from embryos
originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by
patients. The measure is the same as a bill (HR
810) Bush vetoed last year, and the White House in a
statement released in January reiterated Bush's intent to veto the
measure.
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has said that if Bush
vetoes the measure, then he will try to attach it to any "must-do"
legislation (Kaiser
Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 1/30). Harkin, who chairs
the subcommittee that held Tuesday's hearing, is sponsoring the Senate
version of the legislation, which is expected to go to the chamber's
floor after the spring recess,
CongressDaily reports
(Johnson, CongressDaily, 3/20).
Zerhouni Comments
Zerhouni, in a response to a question from Harkin,
said, "From my standpoint, it is clear today that American science will
be better-served, and the nation will be better-served if we let our
scientists have access to more stem cell lines" (Los Angeles Times,
3/20).
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Expanding federal funding to include embryonic
stem cell research, a move opposed by President Bush, is
supported by 65% of the voters, according to a Harris Poll in
January 2007. |
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Harkin at the hearing asked Zerhouni if scientists
will have "a better chance of finding ... new cures, new interventions
for diseases, if the current restrictions on embryonic stem cell
research are lifted." Zerhouni responded, "I think the answer is yes,"
adding that the embryonic stem cell lines currently available for
research "will not be sufficient for the research we need to do."
He also said that NIH should lead embryonic stem
cell research because the agency has more scientific expertise than any
other institution worldwide and because the agency has a strong history
of implementing safeguards in new research,
CQ HealthBeat reports.
Harkin also asked if adult stem cell research has
greater potential than embryonic stem cell research. Zerhouni said that
such views are an overstatement and do not "hold scientific water too
well," adding that "all angles of stem cell research should be pursued"
(Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 3/19).
It is "in the best interest of our scientists, our
science, our country that we find ways -- that the nation finds a way to
allow the science to go full speed on both adult and embryonic stem cell
research," Zerhouni said (Dunham, Reuters, 3/20).
Reaction
White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said that
Zerhouni is free to express his opinion on stem cell research but added
that Bush will set the policy.
"After careful and thoughtful deliberation with
government and outside experts, there was only one moral line that the
president said he would not cross -- and that is that federal taxpayer
dollars should not be used in the destruction of embryos," Fratto said
(Los Angeles Times, 3/20).
An unnamed White House spokesperson added that
Zerhouni would be breaking Bush administration policy if he called for
making additional stem cell lines eligible for federal funding (CQ
Healthbeat, 3/19). According to the Times, several researchers welcomed
Zerhouni's comments. Renee Reijo Pera, director of the embryonic stem
cell program at
Stanford University, said
she thinks Zerhouni's testimony "in the long run ... will make a
difference" in restrictions on federal funding for the research. Wendy
Wright, president of
Concerned Women for America,
said Zerhouni's comments showed that "he's not looking at the issue
objectively," adding that he has ignored the potential of stem cells
derived from sources other than embryos (Los Angeles Times, 3/20).
Lack of Funding for NIH Hinders Scientific Study,
Researchers Say at Senate Hearing
Representatives from a consortium of major medical
and scientific institutions testified at the Senate Appropriations
Committee hearing on Monday that a lack of funding for grants at
NIH has stymied
scientific research, the
Washington Times reports.
In previous years, the federal health agency's
budget typically increased by 15%. It grew by 2.5% in 2004, 2% in 2005
and one-tenth of 1% last year, for a total budget of $28.3 billion. The
fiscal 2007 budget has yet to be released, but an increase of
eight-tenths of 1% is projected for 2008, according to NIH figures.
The researchers testified that NIH's recent funding
levels have caused about eight out of 10 research grant applications to
go unfunded and researchers to spend more time applying for grants than
studying treatments for diseases. Some representatives from the
consortium also contributed to an independent report that criticized the
funding levels.
The report suggested that limited funding at NIH
could hinder the discovery of treatments for cancer, Alzheimer's disease
and neurological diseases, while discouraging a new generation of
researchers. The report also noted that some researchers might turn to
foreign funding (Harper, Washington Times, 3/20).
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chair of the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services,
education and related agencies, and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), ranking
panel member, criticized the president's NIH budget proposal. Harkin
told the committee, "I assure everyone here, Senator Specter and I will
not allow these cuts to take place" (Cooney,
Boston Globe, 3/20).
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