BILL REQ. #:  H-3656.1 

Prefiled 1/7/2004. Read first time 01/12/2004.   Referred to Committee on Health Care.

     TO THE HONORABLE GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, AND TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, An estimated one hundred twenty-eight million Americans suffer from chronic, degenerative, and acute diseases and conditions, including diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and spinal cord injury; and
     WHEREAS, The crippling economic and psychological burdens of chronic, degenerative, and acute diseases result in billions of dollars every year in costs of treatment and lost productivity and these estimates do not consider the extreme human loss and emotional suffering; and
     WHEREAS, Human stem cell research offers immense promise for developing new medical therapies for debilitating diseases and injuries and could lead to unprecedented treatments and potential cures for diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, and spinal cord injury; and
     WHEREAS, The National Bioethics Advisory Commission has found that somatic cell nuclear transplantation may have important applications in medical research; and
     WHEREAS, The United States has historically been a haven for open scientific inquiry and technological innovation and is the world leader in biomedicine and biotechnology; and
     WHEREAS, All ethical considerations of using human embryonic stem cells and human embryonic germ cells in research must be weighed before engaging in such research, including the potential to save lives and reduce human suffering through new treatments and cures; and
     WHEREAS, Stem cell research holds enormous potential for treating or even curing some diseases, yet the cloning of human beings is morally and ethically unacceptable;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that federal funding be made widely available to support research involving human embryonic stem cells and human embryonic germ cells, including somatic cell nuclear transplantation, upon full consideration of the ethical and medical implications of this research.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable George W. Bush, President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.