for S-1317. Congratulations to the US Senate for passing a bill to fund a national umbilical cord blood stem cell bank in the US. Senate Republicans prevented a related bill, H.R. 810, that would have overturned President Bush’s ban on research exploring the full potential of stem cells for regenerative medicine from coming to a vote this year. But at least the Republicans were forced to spend money creating an umbilical cord blood stem cell registry that will benefit the American people: “ The new bill creates a national databank that can be used by doctors to treat diseases – including leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and Krabbe disease, which mostly affects infants – and will provide 79 million dollars to increase the availability of cord blood, making it easier for doctors to find a match for patients, according to the Associated Press. The number of units available would increase to 150,000 making matches available to 90 percent of patients who need it. “ This shows that the Republicans are under tremendous pressure on the area of funding embryonic stem cell research.