[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 322 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 322

 To derive human pluripotent stem cell lines using techniques that do 
                        not harm human embryos.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2007

  Mr. Bartlett of Maryland (for himself, Mr. Gingrey, Mr. Weller, Mr. 
   Chabot, Mr. Lipinski, Mr. Davis of Kentucky, Mr. Lincoln Davis of 
Tennessee, Mr. Franks of Arizona, Mr. Hunter, Mrs. Musgrave, Mr. Jones 
  of North Carolina, Mr. Inglis of South Carolina, and Mr. Gilchrest) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To derive human pluripotent stem cell lines using techniques that do 
                        not harm human embryos.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell 
Therapies Enhancement Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    It is the purpose of this Act to--
            (1) intensify research that may result in improved 
        understanding of or treatments for diseases and other adverse 
        health conditions; and
            (2) promote the derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines, 
        including from postnatal sources, without creating human 
        embryos for research purposes or discarding, destroying, or 
        harming a human embryo or fetus.

SEC. 3. ALTERNATIVE HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL RESEARCH.

    Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 409I the following:

``SEC. 409J. ALTERNATIVE HUMAN PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL RESEARCH.

    ``(a) In General.--In accordance with section 492, the Secretary 
shall conduct and support basic and applied research to develop 
techniques for the isolation, derivation, production, or testing of 
stem cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of producing 
all or almost all of the cell types of the developing body and may 
result in improved understanding of or treatments for diseases and 
other adverse health conditions, but are not derived from a human 
embryo.
    ``(b) Guidelines.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, the Secretary, after consultation with the 
Director of the National Institutes of Health, shall issue final 
guidelines to implement subsection (a), that--
            ``(1) provide guidance concerning the next steps required 
        for additional research, which shall include a determination of 
        the extent to which specific techniques may require additional 
        basic or animal research to ensure that any research involving 
        human cells using these techniques would clearly be consistent 
        with the standards established under this section;
            ``(2) prioritize research with the greatest potential for 
        near-term clinical benefit; and
            ``(3) consistent with subsection (a), take into account 
        techniques outlined by the President's Council on Bioethics and 
        any other appropriate techniques and research.
    ``(c) Reporting Requirements.--Not later than January 1 of each 
year, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate 
committees of the Congress a report describing the activities carried 
out under this section during the fiscal year, including a description 
of the research conducted under this section.
    ``(d) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to affect any policy, guideline, or regulation regarding 
embryonic stem cell research, human cloning by somatic cell nuclear 
transfer, or any other research not specifically authorized by this 
section.
    ``(e) Definition.--In this section, the term `human embryo' 
includes any organism, not protected as a human subject under part 46 
of title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, as of the date of the 
enactment of the Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies 
Enhancement Act of 2007, that is derived by fertilization, 
parthenogenesis, cloning, or any other means from one or more human 
gametes or human diploid cells
    ``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
2008 through 2010, to carry out this section.''.
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