Mr. Speaker, when I was injured in an accidental shooting almost 26 years ago, I was told that I would never walk again. The promise of embryonic stem cell research was, at that time, unheard of. While I always held out hope that I would one day walk again, it was not until the tremendous potential and advances in the field of stem cell research that I truly understood how a cure might work. Today, I am thrilled to be able to share this hope with others.

We live in exciting times. Today, newly injured patients – many of them teenagers, as I was – are told about developing treatments and scientific progress. They face the world with many of the same challenges I faced in 1980 – but they also face the world with the hope and real promise of a cure.

Under the current policy, however, that promise is limited. Embryonic stem cell research has been limited to lines derived before August 9, 2001 – the date of the President’s policy announcement. When the President announced this policy almost 5 years ago, he acknowledged the tremendous potential of embryonic stem cell research. In fact, that policy allowed the research to proceed – but only in a very limited way. The resources we had in 2001 have run out. This research cannot truly move forward without a change in policy.

This is why I am disheartened by today’s veto. H.R. 810 was crafted in accordance with the ethical guidelines outlined by the President himself:

The only change to existing policy would be the lifting of the cutoff date of August 9. This is, in fact, not a debate about the ethics of stem cell research, or a debate about when life begins. It is a debate about a date.

H.R. 810 offers our nation’s scientists the tools they need to proceed down this historic path. Stem cell research represents the most noble activity in which our government can engage: the protection, promotion, and, indeed, affirmation of the lives of our most vulnerable citizens. With millions of American patients and their families in mind, I will proudly cast my vote today to override the President’s veto. I urge all my colleagues to join my in support of the override.