New 527 Group Launched to Advocate for Pending Stem Cell Legislation

Newly launched yesterday was StemPac, a bipartisan team of industry leading grassroots mobilizers, political consultants, and private sector stem cell research supporters. StemPac is a 527 organization that plans to unite and mobilize pro-stem cell research activists and millions of Americans who are clamoring for the United States to take a leadership role in stem cell research.

Founders and key advisors to StemPac include John Hlinko, founder of the Draft Wesley Clark campaign, and Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, founder of Daily Kos, the highest trafficked blog on the web.

Writes John Hlinko at the StemPac blog "Just came back from a fantastic event with Michael J. Fox, Senators Hatch (R-UT), Specter (R-PA), Harkin (D-IA), and Feinstein (D-CA), and Representatives DeGette and Castle. They spoke passionately and eloquently in strong support of HR 810 -- the bill that passed in the House, and is about to be voted on in the Senate. Here's the key -- there are a slew of amendments being proposed right now to that bill by stem cell opponents. Why? Because if there's even one amendment, it will be different from the House bill, and instead of going to the President for his signature, it will go to a conference committee (i.e., "black hole").

Simply put -- we want HR 810 passed in the Senate right now, and without amendments. Don't believe the hype -- the amendments are poison pills, designed to kill this bill for at least a year." Per Senator Dianne Feinstein's website, the purpose of H.R. 810 is to "expand the number of stem cell lines that are eligible for federally funded research, thereby accelerating scientific progress toward cures and treatments for a wide range of diseases and debilitating health conditions."

I'll keep you posted on progress of this vital and controversial legislation. It's being debated again today on the floor of the US Senate.

Meanwhile, be sure to visit my comprehensive Stem Cell Research homepage, which includes my article, Pros & Cons of Embryonic Stem Cell Research, as well as links to the Boston Globe's 2005 Pulitzer Prize winning in-depth coverage of the stem cell research controversy.