The Senate moved Wednesday to repeal the Bush administration's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, marking the second time in less than a year Congress has voted by wide bipartisan margins to reverse the president.
President Bush vetoed the bill last year and threatened this week to do so again.
If he does, the Senate could move soon to attempt to override the veto. Wednesday's 63 to 34 tally, in addition to three absent senators who back the bill, put supporters within one vote of the two-thirds majority needed to supersede the president.
Still, the vote could amount to little more than a political exercise, at least for the moment. In January, the House passed its version of the bill by 253 to 174, nearly 40 votes short of a two-thirds majority.
Supporters acknowledged they were unlikely to succeed in reversing President Bush's stem cell policy as long as he's in office.
"This is a bill we're going to win on eventually," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a key Republican supporter of the bill.
Public support for the research runs as high as 70 percent. But President Bush has remained steadfast in opposition because expanding the research would be achieved by destroying embryos for their cells.
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., said the bill "crosses a moral line." He sponsored a second bill promoting alternative stem cell sources.
"(Senate bill) S. 5 is going to be vetoed, and that means it doesn't go anywhere," said Coleman.
The White House said the president would sign a second bill passed by the Senate promoting research that spares embryos, though its fate in Congress remained uncertain.
The issue recently caused a split in Bush administration ranks. Last month, National Institutes of Health director Elias Zerhouni, called White House limits on embryonic stem cell research "shortsighted" and suggested the nation would benefit if the policy were reversed.
"It is clear today that American science will be better served and the nation will be better served if we let our scientists have access to more cell lines," Zerhouni told a Senate committee on March 19.
It is unclear whether the Senate will muster enough votes to override a veto. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-N.D., supports the repeal, but did not vote because he is recovering from a brain hemorrhage. Supporters are hoping to put enough pressure on lawmakers in moderate states in the hopes that one or two more will switch sides.
Source: United Press International
