President Bush has rejected out of hand a possible Republican-led compromise on expanding federal research funding on stem cell research. Republican Rep. David Dreier (CA) has been working with Nancy Reagan to find a “middle ground” compromise on stem cell research, saying, “I don’t want the president to be in a position where he has to veto this. We want to lower the temperature and not be confrontational, so we can figure out a way for the research to go forward,” according to the Washington Post. President Bush has made it clear that he will not support a compromise on stem cell research, according to the Washington Post.
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), who will be one of the leaders of the effort to pass the bill in the Senate, is suffering from Hodgkins disease, a condition that could benefit from treatments derived from stem cell research. “I look in the mirror every day, barely recognize myself,” Specter said, according to the Associated Press. “And not to have the availability of the best medical care is simply atrocious.”
