The morning after putting research expansion at the forefront of his State of the State address, Gov. Jim Doyle jetted to Washington to urge the U.S. Senate to increase federal funding for embryonic stem cell research Wednesday.
""I speak not as the governor of any old state, but as the governor of the state where stem cell research began and where the best and brightest researchers continue to lead the world,"" Doyle said before the Senate.
The Senate is expected to submit a bill similar to the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007. Doyle urged Democrats to work with Republicans and acquire enough votes to override President Bush's expected veto of the bill.
Doyle pointed to recent partisan changes in the Legislature following November's election. He called it a decisive victory for stem cell champions and a clear signal that government dictates where science should take us.
""The president has proven to be out of touch on this issue and Democrats have a responsibility to lead and mandate for action,"" Doyle said.
The governor has long been a strong supporter of stem cell research. In 2005, he cast his veto power on a bill that would have outlawed stem cell research in the state.
Carla Vigue, spokesperson for Doyle, said he has ""emerged as a national leader in terms of advocating for stem cell research, because he knows that it will someday find treatments and cures to diseases like Alzheimers and Parkinsons.""
Vigue said Doyle believes the best and brightest researchers who continue to lead the world in stem cell research come from Wisconsin.
It was UW researcher James Thomson who was the first to successfully isolate human embryonic stem cells in 1998.
Thomson's research papers have been identified as the most cited papers in the field, said Andrew Cohn, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
What goes on in Wisconsin laboratories is ""influential worldwide,"" Cohn said. ""Wisconsin must maintain our position as a leading research center in this field.""
Cohn said the challenge for Wisconsin and the United States is keeping up with an increasingly competitive environment. He said both may run the risks of losing their lead in the field of stem cell research to other countries if Congress does not take action.
""Wisconsin has been very successful using private and state funding in the stem cell research field,"" Vigue said. ""However, federal funding is essential to funding the further research of stem cells.""
