2005 Montana Legislature

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SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18

INTRODUCED BY K. TOOLE



A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF
THE STATE OF MONTANA URGING PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH AND THE UNITED
STATES CONGRESS TO LIFT THE EXISTING BAN ON EMBRYONIC STEM CELL
RESEARCH AND TO PROVIDE FURTHER FUNDING AND OVERSIGHT FOR THIS
RESEARCH SO THAT THE POTENTIAL THAT THESE CELLS HOLD FOR CELL
THERAPY, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, AND OTHER MEDICAL USES CAN BE FULLY
REALIZED.



WHEREAS, scientists first discovered the existence of
pluripotent stem cells (embryonic cells that have not yet
differentiated to become different types of cells and tissue) in the
1970s and soon recognized the extraordinary properties and promise
of these primitive cells, which are capable of becoming any of 210
different cell types and many different tissues in the human body;
and

WHEREAS, pluripotent stem cells have the most potential to help
humankind because of their usefulness in cell therapy, in which the
stem cells are injected or placed into living tissue so that they
can take on the characteristics of that tissue and thereby diffuse
into and regenerate living tissue to aid in treatment for or cure of
many progressively debilitating and currently incurable diseases,
such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's
disease, multiple sclerosis, Huntington's disease, heart disease,
diabetes, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, birth
defects, and strokes, to grow new corneas for the sight-impaired,
and to treat persons with traumatic cell damage resulting from
spinal cord injuries and burns; and

WHEREAS, the source of these cells with the capabilities to
evolve into almost any type of cell and tissue in the human body,
and therefore the cells with the greatest potential to aid in the
healing of diseased or injured human beings, is principally the
human embryo; and

WHEREAS, as a result of moral and ethical debates concerning
the beginning and use of human life, on August 9, 2001, the
President imposed a ban on federal funding of embryonic stem cell
research, at the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere, that
would involve use of pluripotent stem cell lines derived from human
embryos after that date of August 9; and

WHEREAS, the ban imposed by the President was to have left 64
cell lines available for research, but examination of those lines
shows that many of those cell lines have turned out not to be
genuine stem cell lines and that others have no scientific value,
leaving only 11 cell lines available for research and medical
purposes; and

WHEREAS, research on the remaining 11 stem cell lines now shows
that all of these stem cell lines and all of their cells available
under the ban were grown on what is known as a "feeder layer" of
mouse cells and that those mouse cells have produced a substance
that has now contaminated all of the remaining stem cell lines, in
that the substance prevents the stem cells from differentiating into
more mature cell types and may also cause an infection in any host
tissue onto which the stem cells are placed in the human body; and

WHEREAS, the President's policy, combined with the recent news
of contamination of the remaining cell lines, now means that there
are no embryonic stem cell lines available for research or medical
use in the United States that are not in the hands of the private
sector, where economics may have more to say about their
availability than national health policy; and

WHEREAS, the President's policy now means that one of the most
amazing discoveries of modern times will be beyond the reach of most
of our hospitals and universities, our public health organizations,
and some of our most trusted and dedicated scientists, requiring
that if they are to continue their pioneering work in lifesaving
research, they do so in a foreign country that allows embryonic stem
cell research; and

WHEREAS, the President's policy has taken the hope for a better
life from millions of Americans with debilitating diseases who want
to feel that their government is behind them in their need for
recovery and their search for a solution to the diseases that have
robbed them of their ability to enjoy life and will rob them of life
itself; and

WHEREAS, because of the effect of the policy and contamination
of the remaining lines of stem cells, a group of 206 U.S.
Representatives wrote to President Bush in May of 2003, asking that
the ban on U.S. funding of embryonic stem cell research be lifted, a
group of 11 U.S. Republican Senators wrote to the President on May
15, 2003, with a similar request, and a group of 58 U.S. Senators,
including Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and John McCain, wrote
a similar letter to the President in January of 2004, asking that
the ban on the use of federal funding for stem cell research be
lifted; and

WHEREAS, voters in California recently enacted Proposition 71,
establishing a constitutional right to stem cell research, creating
the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to oversee and
regulate research practices, and authorizing the sale of general
obligation bonds for up to $3 billion to fund Institute activities,
thus dramatically demonstrating how important this issue is to many
people; and

WHEREAS, New Jersey voters have also recently voted to allow
embryonic stem cell research in that state, bills for the same
purpose are now pending in Illinois and New York, and the Governor
of Wisconsin recently announced that the state would spend $750
million to build an embryonic stem cell research institute on the
campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and

WHEREAS, Congress has held hearings on competing pieces of
legislation and many expert witnesses have testified regarding the
future of stem cell research and the medical advances it is sure to
engender, but Congress seems incapable of arriving at a consensus
even through polls show that a large majority of Americans favor
continued research and stimulation of medical advances with stem
cells; and

WHEREAS, the current administration and the Congress therefore
need to be petitioned by the states to change current federal policy
and allow for continued federal financial support of embryonic stem
cell research.



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

That the President is urged to lift the ban that now exists on
federal funding of research on embryonic stem cells so that the many
technical hurdles that now exist on the use of these cells can be
overcome, the promise that these cells hold for humankind through
cell therapy can be realized, and the potential for their use,
limitations, and possibilities in other fields of science, such as
testing of new drugs, can be better understood.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Congress is urged to support
the lifting of the ban and resolve the issues of what new laws may
be necessary and what Congressional oversight is needed in order to
ensure that further research on and use of embryonic stem cells is
conducted in accordance with national policy.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send copies
of this resolution to President George W. Bush and the Members of
the Montana Congressional Delegation.