Chris Dodd for President

Senator Chris Dodd today expressed disappointment that President Bush vetoed the Labor, Health and Human Services (Labor HHS) Appropriations bill:

"It is unfortunate that President Bush has once again chosen to ignore both Congress and the American people to veto legislation that would improve the quality of life for millions of children and families throughout the nation. This needed legislation received wide bi-partisan support and would invest more than $150 million in education, health care, medical research, and job training. It is my hope that Congress will be successful in overriding this misguided veto and once again affirm its support for quality education and health care for the American people. At the same time as he rejects this needed investment in helping America's families, he has come to Congress to ask for an additional $46 billion for his failed policy in Iraq. That speaks volumes about this president's priorities."

Senator Dodd responds to President Bush's veto of SCHIP:

"This President's priorities are unconscionable. With the resources it takes to execute just over 3 months of the Iraq War, we could fully fund the expansion of health care for needy children that Bush vetoed. Indeed, today's veto is another reminder that this war is not only adversely affecting our security but also adversely affecting our other top priorities, and it's time for Congress to do what it must do to end it."

Today, Senator Chris Dodd issued the following statement in response to the Bush Administration's threat to veto the the District of Columbia Appropriations Bill over a provision that allows residents to register as domestic partners.

"The District of Columbia's domestic partner registry provides an important service by allowing loving, committed partners basic rights like the right to hospital visitation and inheritance. I find it incredible that this President, who ran on a platform of compassionate conservatism, would refuse to allow someone the chance to visit their dying loved one simply because of their sexual orientation. "Not only is President Bush out of touch with the American people, he is simply wrong on this basic issue of fairness."

John Aravosis of AmericaBlog and Pam Spaulding have more on the Bush administration's push against the DC domestic partner registry.

Yesterday Senator Dodd responded to President Bush's veto of legislation that would have expanded support for stem cell research. Here's his statement from the Senate record:

Mr. President, in 6 1/2 years in office, President Bush has picked up his veto pen only two times. Today he adds a third; and once more, he is standing against hope for thousands of Americans afflicted with deadly diseases. His veto of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act is a grave moral error. Embryonic stem cell research may one day provide relief to more than 100 million Americans suffering from Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal cord injury, Lou Gehrig's disease, cancer, and many other devastating conditions for which there is still no cure. Today, Federal funds are only allowed for work on 21 stem cell lines that existed as of August 9, 2001, all of which are contaminated. Scientists understand that access to more stem cell lines would significantly expand the scope and possibility of their research. That is why the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act expanded the number of embryonic stem cell lines available for federally funded research by allowing the use of stem cells derived through embryos from in vitro fertilization clinics. Stem cell research turns embryos that would otherwise be discarded into the seeds of life-giving science. Of course, the decision to dedicate embryos to research is a heavy one. We have never argued otherwise. That is why the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act contained strict ethical requirements. Under this legislation, the only embryonic stem cells that can be used for federally funded research are those that were derived through embryos created for fertility treatment purposes and donated for research with the written, informed consent of the individuals seeking that treatment. Any financial or other inducements to make this donation are prohibited under this legislation. These ethical standards are stronger than current law--possibly stronger, in fact, than the standards attending the creation of the 21 approved lines. Stem cells from embryos have a unique potential to reduce human suffering--and for precisely that reason, embryonic stem cell research is supported by a strong majority of Americans. Today, President Bush set himself against that potential, and against that majority; he set himself in the way of our scientists, and our suffering patients. I hope that, when he has left office at last, he will come to regret his choice. If not, history will regret it for him.