By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 20, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ethical stem-cell research received a funding boost from the US House of Representatives on Thursday after it passed an appropriations bill allotting $15 million to the National Cord Blood Inventory (NCBI) program.
The House voted Thursday 276-140 to pass the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3043) for fiscal year 2008, which included the funding that will be put toward the NCBI to collect cord blood. Stem cells derived from cord blood have produced numerous cures without making any of the ethical violations intrinsic to human embryonic stem-cell research.
The original bill would have only provided $4 million for the NCBI had not US Representatives Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Artur Davis (D-AL) offered an amendment to triple this year’s spending on this ethical source of stem cells.
The Smith-Davis amendment was successfully added by a committee voice vote earlier in the week before the House approved the final appropriations bill. The bill now must make it through the Senate in order to come before President Bush to be signed into law.
The extra funding brings the NCBI program’s budget to the level authorized under the “Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005,” authored by Rep. Smith. That law authorized $265 million dollars for umbilical cord blood collection and storage and created the NCBI to be the first national inventory to collect cord blood units and make them readily available for stem cell treatments.
“Stem cells taken from umbilical cords are already being used in research and are saving lives,” said Rep. Smith. The congressman stated that in the past two years alone, approximately 8,000 patients have received cord blood treatments for over 70 diseases including Leukemia, Sickle Cell Anemia, and Hurler disease. “With a proven track record such as this, it is imperative that the federal government continue to support this innovative, life-saving program.”
Rep. Smith said the NCBI gives scientists an opportunity to “turn medical waste into medical miracles.” He warned that less funding would severely hamper efforts of researchers to procure cures and treatments for patients. “However, by appropriating the full $15 million, we can triple this year’s collection number,” he stated.
Smith’s law authorized the collection of 150,000 units of cord blood for the NCBI, giving it a mandate to provide a genetic diversity that is designed to meet the needs of 90% of patients in need of stem-cell treatments. These units will be made available through an open registry that will link public cord blood banks nationwide and simplify medical professionals’ search for a blood match for stem-cell patients.