Representative James Langevin (D-RI), Chair of the Congressional Disability Caucus, spoke to us at the conclusion of Wednesday's Celebration of The National Disability Agenda gathering. Langevin is known for being the only quadriplegic ever to serve in Congress so far, he also is a strong advocate of stem cell research and spoke on that topic at the DNC in 2004. Langevin became a quadriplegic at the age of 16, when he was accidentally shot in the neck. Here's what we talked about:
(Disabled Politico) How long do you think
before the US allows stem cell therapy?
Langevin: Well, you realize that stem cell research is happening
irrespective of government involvement or support or federal dollars, but it's
not happening responsibly in my opinion.
It's why it's so important that we have the right support and funding
and oversight structure in place to support stem cell research. I know that stem cell research is going to
take a major leap forward when Barack Obama is elected president. I know that we'll pass the Stem Cell Research
Enhancement Act that will remove the restrictions that the Bush administration
has put in place. We're going to put the right federal dollars behind all forms
of stem cell research. And it's going to
allow our scientists our researchers to unlock some of the cures for some of
our most challenging chronic conditions and diseases.
There's a lot of exciting things that are going to happen
and are happening with stem cell research, but we want the United States to be the leader
in stem cell research. I've actually
traveled to the UK, I've met with American researchers who left the United States
to go over there to do their research over there because they didn't have the
support and funding back home in America.
They went over to the UK where there is the right support and policies
in place; the money is there to do the research. It shouldn't be that way; we should be able
to do this research here in the United States.
And again, it is happening in the private sector. But not with the right
financial support and not the right oversight structure.
(Disabled Politico) If we don't act
quickly do you think we'll be very far behind in research?
Langevin: I think we're losing our edge right now. Countries overseas are doing the research and
putting the right funding in place. We
are losing our edge, in the field of stem cell research here in the US, that's
why we need to turn around and remove the restrictions that the Bush
administration put in place.
