Bill Text: CA AJR7 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Stem cell research: federal legislation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2009-03-24 - In committee: Hearing cancelled at the request of author. [AJR7 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AJR7-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 7 INTRODUCED
BILL TEXT
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bass
FEBRUARY 18, 2009
Relative to stem cell research.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AJR 7, as introduced, Bass. Stem cell research: federal
legislation.
This measure would memorialize the President and Congress of the
United States to enact, as expeditiously as possible, legislation
that embodies the policies advanced in the federal Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act of 2007.
Fiscal committee: no.
WHEREAS, More than seven million California voters approved
Proposition 71, which authorized the issuance of $3 billion in bonds
to support and advance stem cell research and regenerative medicine
under the highest ethical and medical standards for the discovery and
development of cures, therapies, diagnostics, and research
technologies to relieve human suffering from chronic disease and
injury; and
WHEREAS, Millions of Americans suffer from chronic diseases and
injuries that could one day benefit from the stem cell research that
is being conducted in California; and
WHEREAS, California has already committed more than $600 million
for research and facilities grants to build a platform for stem cell
research in California; and
WHEREAS, Stem cell research has already yielded great progress,
including a request for approval of a Phase 1 clinical trial for the
use of embryonic stem cells to treat acute paralysis; and
WHEREAS, In the next 24 to 48 months, researchers expect that
other therapies derived from stem cells may be ready for clinical
trials to treat a range of diseases, including dry macular
degeneration, Batten Disease, and heart disease; and
WHEREAS, Federal legislation and an executive order signed by
President Bush have stymied the National Institutes of Health from
actively pursuing the opportunities afforded by human embryonic stem
cell research; and
WHEREAS, The active participation of the National Institutes of
Health is critical to advancing the field of stem cell research; and
WHEREAS, President Obama has pledged to lift the executive order
that limits funding of human embryonic stem cell research to those
stem cell lines in existence in 2001; and
WHEREAS, The leadership of the United States House of
Representatives and the United States Senate have announced their
intention to reintroduce legislation that would authorize federal
funding of human embryonic stem cell research; and
WHEREAS, The California Legislature is committed to working with
the Congress of the United States to advance stem cell research
consistent with the highest medical and ethical standards and to
prohibit human reproductive cloning; and
WHEREAS, The California Legislature supports the relaxation of
federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research conducted
consistent with the highest medical and ethical standards recommended
by the National Academy of Sciences; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 3 (DeGette/Castle) and S. 5 (Reid/Harkin/Specter) of
the 110th Congress, an act titled the Stem Cell Research Enhancement
Act of 2007, would have: (a) amended the Public Health Service Act
to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and
support research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells, regardless
of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human
embryo, and (b) limited that research to stem cells that meet the
following ethical requirements: (1) the stem cells were derived from
human embryos donated from in vitro fertilization clinics for the
purpose of fertility treatment and were in excess of the needs of the
individuals seeking such treatment; (2) the embryos would never be
implanted in a woman and would otherwise be discarded; and (3) the
individuals donate the embryos with written informed consent and
receive no financial or other inducement; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 3 of the 110th Congress (Castle/DeGette), which had
218 cosponsors, and S. 471 of the 109th Congress (Specter/Harkin),
which had 37 cosponsors, represented a bipartisan effort to advance
stem cell research in an ethical and responsible manner; and
WHEREAS, H.R. 810 of the 109th Congress (Castle/DeGette) and S. 5
of the 110th Congress (Reid/Harkin/Specter) would have expanded the
number of stem cell lines available to federally funded researchers
and would complement the critical work that is being funded in
California; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature supports the legislative
intent of the federal Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act and
legislation that embodies the policies advanced in that act and calls
on the Congress of the United States to enact those policies as
expeditiously as possible; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Congress of the United States,
to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each Senator
and Representative from California in the Congress of the United
States.
