Holt, Menendez support stem cell research funds At press conference, call on president to vote for bill pending in Congress BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer "We are imploring the president to help pave the road to the future." - Rush Holt NORTH BRUNSWICK - Two federal lawmakers paid a visit to North Brunswick to plead their case for a stem cell research bill currently circulating in Congress, and in particular, for President Bush not to veto it as he has done in the past. U.S. Rep. Rush Holt and Sen. Robert Menendez met with scientists, activists and other advocates of embryonic stem cell research at the Chromocell Corporation Technology Centre of New Jersey, on Route 1. Together, they urged the president not to veto a bill that would provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, stating that such research could potentially provide cures for many horrible afflictions. "We are making gains for the cures that so many Americans long for," said Holt. Embryonic stem cells are cells that have not yet been assigned a specific function. With the proper treatment, they can be coaxed into becoming almost any type of tissue. This has led many to believe that they can be used for treatments for a variety of maladies, though the ones most often touted are for Alzheimer's disease, where people hope that brain tissue can be regenerated, and spinal cord injures, where it is thought they might allow paralyzed people to walk again. The controversy comes from the fact that many stem cell lines originate from fertilized human embryos, which must be destroyed in order to harvest them. The embryos themselves mostly come from fertility labs, left over from in-vitro fertilization treatments. Opponents of embryonic stem cell research say that the destruction of the fertilized embryo for its stem cells is morally unconscionable and that, furthermore, there are many other types of stem cells, such as umbilical and amniotic, that can be harvested and used without destroying them. Proponents say that the frozen embryos will either sit in the freezer or be destroyed anyway, and that embryonic stem cells are the most versatile of stem cell groups, which provide the most potential for finding cures to diseases. Bush has come out against embryonic stem cell research many times, stating that it ignores the "sanctity of life," an argument that is also often heard when one discusses abortion. It has been the policy of the Bush administration that federal funding for embryonic stem cell research is allowed only for research using stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, the date the policy went into effect. In July 2006, Bush vetoed a bill put forth by the then-Republican-controlled Congress that would have expanded stem cell lines eligible for federal funding and allowed funding for research using stem cells either left over from fertility treatments or those willingly donated by patients. The now-Democrat-controlled Congress is expected to pass a bill that is identical to the one Bush vetoed. It is the hope of Menendez, Holt and other supporters of the bill that enough support can be garnered in Congress to override any veto attempt by Bush, or that the president will simply not veto it. "We are imploring the president to help pave the road to the future," said Holt. Other speakers at the event included people who were personally affected by diseases that might be helped by embryonic stem cell research. One of them was North Brunswick Councilman Bob Davis, whose mother has Alzheimer's disease and whose oldest son has diabetes. "If the president could only look at the families and see what it does to families. ... Please pass this bill, President Bush. Please do not veto it," Davis said. U.S. representative