Shaheen outlines plan for scientific leadership
HANOVER, N.H.—Democrat Jeanne Shaheen on Monday accused Republican Sen. John Sununu of supporting what she described as an eight-year effort by the Bush administration to diminish scientific research and development.
"Absolutely he's complicit," said the former governor and current candidate for Sununu's seat. "Look where he's been on stem cell research. He was the vote that could've overridden President Bush's veto on embryonic stem cell research and he refused to step up to the plate. ... He should know better."
Though she always has supported relaxing Bush's limits on embryonic stem cell research, Shaheen said the issue has become personal since her 8-year-old granddaughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes last fall.
"As a grandmother and as an American, I am angry that we have lost seven years of promising research because of President Bush's restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research," she said.
Scientists hope human embryonic stem cells can someday be used to replace diseased tissue, alleviating a host of chronic diseases. President Bush, who opposes the work because human embryos are destroyed during research, has allowed federal funding for a limited number of stem cell lines that already existed in 2001.
Scientists lately have created the equivalent of embryonic stem cells from ordinary skin cells, a breakthrough that someday could produce new treatments for disease without the moral questions of embryo cloning.
Sununu has said he supports stem cell research, including on adult, amniotic and embryonic stem cells, but only using the lines created under existing guidelines.
Shaheen's criticism of Sununu followed a speech at Dartmouth College in which she argued that the United States must again become a leader in science, not just for economy's sake but to keep the environment healthy and the nation safe.
She called for a return to making policy decisions based on science not ideology, increasing federal funding for research, stimulating private sector investment in research and development and ensuring workers have the skills and knowledge they need to compete.
"The devaluation of science in the last eight years threatens (our) achievements and endangers our future," she said. "Growing economies in other nations, new and dangerous threats to our national security, and serious environmental dangers all pose new challenges, and we must bring the full force of American science and technology to bear on these challenges."
Though she didn't offer specific dollar amounts, she said increasing the budget of the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and similar outfits by 10 percent would be a good start.
"The amount we're talking about is probably less than the cost of one month of the war in Iraq," she said.
Responding to Shaheen's comments, Sununu defended his record in supporting science and accused Shaheen of turning her back on science by opposing offshore oil exploration.
"As the only engineer in the U.S. Senate, I have been proud to fight to protect funding for the National Science Foundation from political manipulation, supported funding for stem cell research and co-sponsored legislation establishing tough emissions standards for carbon dioxide, mercury and sulfur," he said. "With oil at $140 a barrel, Jeanne Shaheen continues to toe the extreme liberal line, ignoring technological improvements that allow us to produce new energy deep offshore while providing better protection of the environment than ever before."
Shaheen didn't mention Sununu in her speech but was quick to respond when a reporter brought up his distinction of being the Senate's only engineer.
"He's been on the wrong side of almost every issue I talked about," she said. "So the fact that he's an engineer has had nothing to do with his perspective on supporting science and technology in the Senate."
