HON. RON PAUL
OF TEXAS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Friday, January 12, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 16:1
Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Cures Can Be Found Act. This legislation
promotes medical research by providing
a tax credit for investments and donations to
promote adult and umbilical cord blood stem
cell research, and provides a $2,000 tax credit
to new parents for the donation of umbilical
cord blood that can be used to extract stem
cells.
2007 Ron Paul 16:2
Madam Speaker, stem cell research has the potential to revolutionize medicine. Stem cells
could hold the keys to curing many diseases
afflicting millions of Americans, such as diabetes
and Alzheimers. Umbilical cord blood
stem cells have already been used to treat 67
diseases, including sickle cell disease, leukemia,
and osteoporosis. Umbilical cord blood
stem cells have also proven useful in treating
spinal cord injuries and certain neurological
disorders. Adult stem cells have shown promise
in treating a wide variety of diseases ranging
from brain, breast, testicular, and other
types of cancers to multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons,
heart damage, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Just this week, the Washington Post and the
Los Angeles Times ran major stories on the
progress made in obtaining stem cells from
amniotic fluid, which is easily obtainable from
a pregnant woman during routine pre-natal
tests.
2007 Ron Paul 16:3
By providing tax incentives for adult and umbilical cord blood stem cell research, the
Cures Can Be Found Act will ensure greater
resources are devoted to this valuable research.
The tax credit for donations of umbilical
cord blood will ensure that medical
science has a continuous supply of stem cells.
Thus, this bill will help scientists discover new
cures using stem cells and, hopefully, make
routine the use of stem cells to treat formally
incurable diseases.
2007 Ron Paul 16:4
By encouraging private medical research, the Cures Can Be Found Act enhances a tradition
of private medical research that is responsible
for many medical breakthroughs.
For example, Jonas Salk, discoverer of the
polio vaccine, did not receive one dollar from
the federal government for his efforts. I urge
my colleagues to help the American people
support the efforts of future Jonas Salks by
cosponsoring the Cures Can Be Found Act.