Brownback bill promotes adult stem cells

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Posted by Joel Mathis July 17, 2006 at 6:31 a.m.

The Senate is headed for a showdown over stem cells today, and Sen. Sam Brownback is right in the middleo f the fray:[Gannett News Service][1] reports:_ Congress and the Bush administration are heading toward their first veto fight as the Senate prepares for a vote that would lift the administration's limits on federally funded research on human embryos. The bill, which already has passed the House, would give medical researchers access to surplus frozen embryos from fertility clinics, donated by couples who no longer need them for fertility treatments. The president cut off federal funding for most embryonic research shortly after he took office in 2001.One of the alternate bills would ban the nonexistent practice of "fetal farming" -- removing embryos from women's wombs for medical research. The other, sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., would mandate that the National Institutes of Health focus its research dollars on cures from adult stem cells. All three bills are likely to pass. The House could vote on the two new Senate stem cell bills as early as Wednesday of next week.[McClatchy Newspapers][2] adds: _The bill's opponents say no progress should come at the expense of human life, and they say that's what an embryo is._"We can't use humans as lab rats," said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican who's a leading opponent of embryonic stem cell research. "You're researching on young humans. You let that human grow, he becomes a full-scale person by anybody's definition."_Sam Brownback[News From Agape Press:][3] Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback says nations need to unite to isolate North Korea, including its allies; he claims nearby nations, "especially China and South Korea should end unconditional assistance to North Korea." Brownback is among many in Congress who feel the time has come for the U.S. to get tough in terms of its foreign policy and dealings with Kim Jong Il's Communist government. Meanwhile, he notes, there are other things the U.S. needs to do. "We should continue to build our missile capacity -- missile defense capacity," the senator says.[(JTA.org) Senate urges Russia to protect religious communities:][4] The U.S. Senate passed a resolution urging Russia to protect the freedom of its religious communities. The resolution comes against the backdrop of rising levels of anti-Semitism in Russia, according to a release from the office of Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, which monitors human rights internationally. "While we recognize that religious freedom has advanced significantly for the Russian people since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I am concerned by sporadic yet consistent reports of local government harassment and uninvestigated assaults against religious groups," Brownback said. [(Catholic News Service) Diverse faiths joining effort to pursue broad immigration fixes:][5] Jewish, evangelical, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist and Catholic speakers at the July 12 conference in Washington all pointed to various parts of Scripture as the basis for faith traditions that support the right of people to migrate and that call believers to treat "the stranger" as a valued member of society. But Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., said he has seen little evidence of that being raised in the ongoing debate. "I don't think there's a theological perspective" being effectively brought into discussions about pending immigration legislation, he said. "That's not in the debate." Brownback, a Catholic, encouraged the religious leaders at the conference to jump into the "big, noisy debate" about immigration law and policy."It needs lots of voices," he said, particularly those offering a moral perspective.[(KC Star) Cleaver at odds with other clergy, other lawmakers:][6] Others who share Cleaver's deep faith disagree with him on gay marriage. Congress required Utah to renounce Mormon-sanctioned polygamy before it became a state in 1896, said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican. Brownback, a devout Roman Catholic, led the fight in the Senate for the marriage amendment. "I would rather we not be involved in it," Brownback said of the issue. "But it has such enormous cultural and societal impact, I don't think there's a way of us avoiding it. It would be wrong if we did. It's a foundational thing that you're building a culture and a society on. I wish it weren't that way."Voting Rights Act[(AP) House votes to extend Voting Rights Act:][7] The House of Representatives voted 390-33 to extend the Voting Rights Act for another 25 years. Kansas Republicans Jerry Moran and Jim Ryun and Democrat Dennis Moore all voted in favor of renewing the act. Republican Todd Tiahrt did not vote on the measure.How to contact As always, you can find information to contact members of the Kansas congressional delegation [here.][8] [1]: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/NEWS01/607170310/1009/NEWS05 [2]: http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/14278876p-15087670c.html [3]: http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/7/142006h.asp [4]: http://jta.org/page_view_breaking_story.asp?intid=3585 [5]: http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=2364 [6]: http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/15054276.htm [7]: http://www.49abcnews.com/news/2006/jul/14/house_votes_extend_voting_rights_act/ [8]: http://ljworld.com/extra/where_to_write.html#fed

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erichaar 6 years, 10 months ago

Way to go Senator Sam!

staff04 6 years, 10 months ago

Neither chamber has the votes to override this veto and they know it. Just another political game.

Jamesaust 6 years, 10 months ago

"You let that human grow, he becomes a full-scale person by anybody's definition."

Note to Sam: go back to your biology text. Zygotes never can become human beings absent several things, including implantation in the uterus. Period.

That Brownback is sincere, I have little doubt. Unfortunately for Brownback, sincerity and virtue are not correlated. His ultimate dilemma is that the consequence of his approach is greater human death and suffering.

Ironically, Brownback's response might as well come from some mullah in Saudi Arabia - as Allah wills, God's choice, what will be will be.... (Yes, its God's will that we reject his gifts and wallow in the muck.)

Instead of inventing dragons to slay, perhaps we could just focus on the ones all around us?

Agnostick 6 years, 10 months ago

Wow. And they said John Kerry was a "flip-flopper"...!!!

Agnostick agnostick@excite.com

ladysilk 6 years, 10 months ago

Brownback needs and enema

kjmh2008 6 years, 10 months ago

There is a lot of chest beating on this board and a lot of grammatical errors to go with it.

Adult stem cell research has proven itself successful, providing real people with real results. Embryonic stem cell research which has been in the works for over 20 years has yet to prove itself.

If you are talking about using tax payer dollars, it only makes sense to go with research that has a proven track record rather than waste more of our money looking for a fountain of youth that simply doesn't exist.

Go Senator Brownback.

GOPConservative 6 years, 10 months ago

How many un-implanted zygotes are excreted by women in America each year? It must be in the millions. Does Senator Sam want to catch them all and freeze them in case someone can figure out a way to implant them?

And what about the thousands of zygotes that are thrown away each year by fertility clinics? Does Sam want to stockpile them as well? Where will he find enough women for implantation?

Does he intend to forcibly detain women who might be at risk of having sex before marriage, use their wombs for forced implantation, and then make them go to term on faith-based baby farms?

Maybe the unadopted children raised on such farms could do the work now being done by illegal aliens and thus solve two problems simultaneously.

It appears Senator Sam would rather science figure out a way to make un-implanted zygotes viable for implantation in apparently captive women than figuring out ways to use those zygotes to cure hundreds of diseases and thus improve and extend the lives of millions of suffering people.

Brownback is dangerous. When he finally gets to Hell, I hope God makes the Devil force him to apologize to each of the millions of people in Heaven and Hell who suffered because this deceitful and ignorant politician played to his fanatical base rather than helping fund research that would have saved lives.

merrill 6 years, 10 months ago

Brownback feels safe in taking his new position because President Bush has promised to veto this bipartisan Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, caving in to the demands of the religious right rather than meeting the needs of the American people he was elected to serve.

Brownback is wanting to look good for his presidential run. If Bush does veto will Brownback push to over ride the veto? Would he support a veto over ride? He seldom if ever goes against Bush.

eesti006 6 years, 9 months ago

I agree with the post above. Brownback simply is jockying and manuevering himself to look good as a presidential candidate in 2008.

However Mr. Brownback as a politican appears to be hypocrite. Mr. Brownback was a sponsor of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) of 2005. This new law is the first Federal law to regulate the dating behavior of Americans by requiring Americans who communicate with foreigners to provide criminal history disclosures before Americans can communicate with foreigners. How atrocious! (If Stalin were alive he would have applauded Mr. Brownback).

Mr. Brownback sponsored this law in close sympathy with extremist groups such as Legal Momentum (a branch of NOW) whose main objective is "same sex marriage" legislation. Ironically Mr. Brownback has taken a strong conservative position for the amendment banning same sex marriages.

The implementation of the new law (IMBRA) has been a bureaucratic nightmare with DHS suspending 10,000 heterosexual marriages US citizens who are abiding by the law for the honorable purpose of marriage. Apparently the new law 's extensive criminal and personal history disclosure requirements have bogged down the processing of fiancee visas. Thousands of marriages have been destroyed already. Mr. Brownback is obviuosly a hypocrite.

Not only is Mr. Brownback a hypocrite but he may be subject to a Senate ethics investigation. Another main sponsor of the IMBRA, Senator Maria Cantwell presented false and misleading testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee on July 14, 2004., claiming "International Marriage Brokers (dating agencies) were the Nexis for trafficking of women into the United States". She lied under oath being fully aware of an earlier study showing no correlation between human trafficking of women and International dating agencies.

Mr. Brownback claims to be a Republican but he makes backdoor deal with extremist groups to destroy the civil liberties of law abiding Americans. Brownback's sponsoring of IMBRA reveals what a hypocrite he really is and he's no presidential candidate.

Supposedly the purpose of the law is to protect women from violence. But the real purpose is to prevent "American men from marrying foreign women uninfected by American feminism". (Jealously ... Mr. Brownback!!) http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/7/prweb138739.htm

Mr. Brownback is so gullable that his chances of being elected president are laughable at best.

Dave Root Damascus, Md.

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