US Congress Stem Cell Update

US Congress Stem Cell Update

Yesterday the conservative publication Family News in Focus published a short article about the Senate umbilical blood stem cell bill, S1317. According to the article, some members of the House of Representatives want it fast-tracked in the Senate. This prompted me to take a look at what other stem cell bills are in Congress are right now. Here’s the scoop:

I did a search on the Thomas website, maintained by the Library of Congress (the link is also provided on the home page for the House), and there are 23 bills containing the exact phrase “stem cell” in them. These bills are:

1 . Cures Can Be Found Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.3444.IH]
2 . Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.596.IH]
3 . Cord Blood Stem Cell Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.681.IS]
4 . Stem Cell Research Investment Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.1650.IH]
5 . Expressing the sense of the Congress that the Federal Government should not infringe on State or private programs that fund embryonic stem cell research. (Introduced in House)[H.CON.RES.166.IH]
6 . Joe Testaverde Adult Stem Cell Research Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2541.IH]
7 . Stem Cell Replenishment Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.162.IH]
8 . Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (Received in Senate from House)[H.R.2520.RDS]
9 . Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.2520.EH]
10 . Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2520.IH]
11 . Respect for Life Pluripotent Stem Cell Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.1557.IS]
12 . Respect for Life Pluripotent Stem Cell Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.3144.IH]
13 . Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)[H.R.810.EH]
14 . Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.471.IS]
15 . Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (Placed on Calendar in Senate)[H.R.810.PCS]16 . Respect for Life Embryonic Stem Cell Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.2574.IH]
17 . Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (Received in Senate from House)[H.R.810.RDS]
18 . Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.810.IH]
19 . Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.876.IS]
20 . Human Cloning Ban and Stem Cell Research Protection Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.1822.IH]
21 . Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005 (Reported in Senate)[S.1317.RS]
22 . Bone Marrow and Cord Blood Therapy and Research Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.1317.IS]
23 . Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 (Reported in Senate)[H.R.3010.RS]

There are also several bills regarding Human Cloning:

24 . Human Cloning Ban Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.3932.IH]
25 . Human Cloning Ban Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.1520.IS]

39 . Human Cloning Research Prohibition Act (Introduced in House)[H.R.222.IH]
40 . Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.658.IS]

45 . Human Chimera Prohibition Act of 2005 (Introduced in Senate)[S.659.IS]
49 . Human Cloning Prohibition Act of 2005 (Introduced in House)[H.R.1357.IH]

Missing numbers are non-relevant bills that the search found, such as ones on cell phones or hydrogen cell fuel technology. I’ll blog on these bills a few at a time throughout the coming weeks, but in the meantime if you are interested you can go to the Thomas site and search them yourself. To search by bill number, enter HR or S without the periods, then a space, then the number.