Stem-Cell Votes Expected Today, and Future Dates

The Senate realized last night that a veto-proof margin for the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (SCREA) was impossible, and the debate is terminating three hours early (16 total instead of the original 20). The Hill reported today that Senators Casey (D-PA) and Sununu (R-NH) are both expected to vote no on the SCREA. Senator Harkin closed last night with an agreement shorten the time allowed for stem-cell debate, so he must have seen the writing on the wall.

The Hill notes that this won't be the last vote on stem-cells. Not by a long shot.

Yet veto-override votes in the Senate, and possibly the House, will not be the last the president and his allies will hear on stem cells this year. Repeated votes on stem cell research are aimed at ratcheting up pressure on Bush and Republicans up for reelection, including Sununu.

The House will return to stem cells “as soon as possible,” according to a Democratic leadership aide, and as often as possible, according to Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), sponsor of the bill the House passed in January.

“The president can do it the easy way or the hard way,” DeGette said.

Following the likely presidential veto, DeGette said House Democrats would move to set aside new federal money for embryonic stem cell research via other bills. Those vehicles could include “must-pass” appropriations bills or other health-related measures, she suggested: “What we hope to gain is keeping this issue alive.”

It looks like it's going to be a long year.

Democrats Setting Veto [The Hill]