[Accountable]

Do you really think Bush will use his veto pen, considering that he's never done it yet?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bush Likely to Make First Veto Since Taking Office

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BOB KEMPER July 18, 2006

Washington --- President Bush's administration warned the Senate on Monday that if it passes a bill today expanding the kinds of stem cell research that can receive federal funding, Bush will issue his first veto since taking office.

"The bill would compel all American taxpayers to pay for research that relies on the intentional destruction of human embryos for the derivation of stem cells," the White House said in a statement.

The bill, which received approval in the House, is expected to pass, though supporters appear to lack to the 67 votes needed to override a veto, which could come as early as Wednesday.

Bush in 2001 restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to the limited number of stem cell lines available prior to his order --- a decision scientists say greatly hampers their development of therapies that could lead to cures for conditions such as Alzheimer's disease.

As debate on the bill opened Monday in the Senate, Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a physician and potential presidential candidate in 2008, called on colleagues to lift the ban on federal spending on new lines. "I feel that the limit on cell lines available for federally funded research is too restrictive," Frist said.

The bill would allow federal funding for research on embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics that were not implanted and were slated for disposal.

A number of other prominent Republicans, including Nancy Reagan, support expanding stem cell research, despite the concerns of anti-abortion advocates who equate the destruction of the embryos with the taking of human life. Among leading opponents is Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), who in a statement Monday said that "while researchers in the private sector are free to destroy young human lives through embryonic stem cell research, the government should not be in the business of funding this ethically troubling research with taxpayer dollars."

Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson sought to introduce a compromise but was unable to get Frist to include it in the legislative package. The Republican from Cobb County said he spent the past year developing a proposal with the help of professors at Emory University and the University of Georgia that would allow federal funding only for embryos that fertility clinics determine are incapable of developing into fetuses and therefore would never be implanted.

He said such an arrangement would eliminate the conflict between scientific goals and moral concerns.

"I respect human life," Isakson, who backed Bush's restrictions in 2001, said in a speech on the Senate floor. "I also respect the wonder of science and innovation and the great discoveries that brought. And I stand here today believing you can do both."

Three such lines of stem cells, developed with private funding, exist at the University of Georgia, and other lines have been developed at other universities. Yet, before Isakson's proposal, neither the administration nor Congress has considered drawing distinctions between viable and unviable leftover embryos.

"It's out there. People for one reason or another are not paying attention or not wanting to pay attention," said Steve Stice, director of the Regenerative Bio-Science Center at the University of Georgia.

This week's debate is the only one the Senate will have on stem cells before the November elections, but Isakson's aides said he will introduce a compromise bill after the election, or possibly after Bush issues his veto.

"This debate won't be over," Isakson said.