Stem cells are hot topic on Hill
Bush's decision last Thursday to provide federal financial backing only to researchers working with existing stem cell lines provided at least one topic of heated debate on Capitol Hill this week. After announcing that federal grants would be available early next year for research on stem-cell colonies already derived from destroyed embryos, many research supporters and patients' advocacy groups felt that the President had taken too conservative a stance by stifling potential scientific discoveries. On the other side, social conservatives, many of whom see such research as equivalent to the taking of pre-natal human lives, saw the policy as too liberal. Either way, skeptics pointed out that the President's qualified support represented a shrewd -- albeit transparent -- political move that allowed him to straddle the fence between two dissenting Republican constituencies. Fence-sitting or not, Bush's future ability to work with the legislative branch could be partially decided in the next few months, as Republicans and Democrats alike seek to pick up seats during Congressional redistricting. "It's political hardball, state by state, and anything can happen," Representative Thomas M.