12 CONTINUE
The ASCB Newsletter, Vol
24, No 5 Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the NSF, and is Chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus.
n n President’s Decision on Stem Cell Research Still Pending As reported previously [March 2001 ASCB Newsletter], the Clinton
Administration policy
allowing for federal funding of stem cell
research is under review by the cur- rent
Administration. The ASCB sent an email
alert to its mem- bership on
April 10 urging scientists to write to President Bush and their Representatives in Congress asking them to support federal funding of embryonic stem cell re- search. Notwithstanding the vigorous response of the scientific community, the President ordered that the April 25 meeting of the NIH Human Pluri- potent Stem Cell Review Group be
can- celed. The HPSCRG is
charged with re- viewing applications for
stem cell research to ensure they comply
with the NIH stem cell
guidelines. Stem cell research
also remains of serious
concern on Capitol Hill. At a
recent NIH hearing on
chronic disease, Rep. Roger
Wicker (R-MS), one of the
original authors of the embryo
re- search ban, suggested
that the NIH could lose
signifi- cant funding this year if
it continues to make
human embryonic stem cell
re- search grants. NIH Acting
Director Ruth Kirschstein emphasized the
need to explore the scientific potential of
all stem cells— the less controversial
adult variety as well as embryonic
cells. In the Senate, Arlen Specter (R-PA)
and Tom Harkin (D-IA) have reintroduced
the Stem Cell Research Act, S. 723, which
both allows for use of embryonic stem cells
by federally funded scientists and the
deriva- tion of those cells from the
embryo. n n President Nominates Allen for Deputy HHS Secretary President Bush
has nominated Claude A. Allen as Deputy
Secretary of Health & Hu- man
Services. Allen cur- rently serves as Secretary of Health & Human
Re- sources for the State of
Vir- ginia and served in the
Vir- ginia Attorney
General’s Office from 1995-1998.
He was an Associate at
Baker & Botts in Washington,
D.C. from 1991-1995, was staff member on
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
from 1985-1987, and served
as Senator Jesse Helms’
press secretary. He is a graduate of the
University of North Carolina and Duke University Law School, and is known to be a conservative, market-oriented advisor to Virginia Governor James S. Gilmore, III.
n n Human Cloning Debate Heats Up Again The House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing on March 29 to [T]he President
ordered that
the April 25 meeting of the NIH Human Pluripo- tent Stem Cell
Review Group
be canceled. Roger
Wicker (R-MS), one of the original authors
of the embryo
research ban, suggested that the NIH could lose significant
fund- ing this year
if it continues to
makes human embry- onic stem cell
research grants.