Post by Noname on Jun 21, 2004 23:21:26 GMT -5
By NEDRA PICKLER, AP
DENVER (June 21) - Democrat John Kerry, backed by 48 Nobel Prize winners, on Monday criticized President Bush for allowing ideology rather than facts to determine science policies and repeated his pledge to overturn the ban on federal funding of research on new stem cell lines.
''We need a president who will once again embrace our tradition of looking toward the future and new discoveries with hope based on scientific facts, not fear,'' Kerry told hundreds who braved a cold rain to hear him speak at an outdoor amphitheater, even though he was an hour and a half late.
The Massachusetts senator canceled an appearance Tuesday in Albuquerque and was flying back to Washington to vote in the Senate for mandatory financing of veterans health care. In New Mexico, Kerry was to describe his plan for further federal investments in science and technology.
In a letter endorsing Kerry, 48 scientists who have won the Nobel Prize said the Bush administration is undermining the nation's future by impeding medical advances, turning away scientific talent with its immigration practices and ignoring scientific consensus on global warming and other critical issues.
''Unlike previous administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy-making that is so important to our collective welfare,'' their letter stated.
Dr. Burton Richter, the 1976 Nobel laureate in physics, said it was unusual for such a large number of Nobel winners to endorse a particular political candidate.
''I hope you take that as a sign of how seriously all of us think the errors of our present course are,'' Richter told reporters in a conference call arranged by Kerry's campaign.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said the president's budget increases federal research and development to $132 billion in 2005, a 44 percent increase since taking office.
''Only John Kerry would declare the country to be in scientific decline on a day when the country's first privately funded space trip is successfully completed,'' Schmidt said, referring to the first flight of a privately financed manned rocket over California.
The Kerry campaign said the Massachusetts senator will invest in scientific research to foster discoveries to protect the economy as well as to help cure diseases. He also will rely on scientific leaders and expert advice when making decisions, the campaign said, and will allow stem cells to be researched in full under the appropriate ethical oversight.
Stem cell research gained renewed attention earlier this month after the death of former President Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. His family, including former first lady Nancy Reagan, called for more research into the disease using stem cells. Fifty-eight senators - including Kerry - sent Bush a letter asking that he relax restrictions he imposed by executive order in August 2001. The White House has rejected those requests.
Nancy Reagan's ''pleas for stem cell research joined the pleas of millions across this country and reinforces in all of us the need to tear down every wall today that keeps us from finding the cures of tomorrow,'' Kerry said. ''I have full faith that our scientists will go forward with a moral compass - with humane values and sound ethics guiding the way.''
Kerry was introduced by Chris Chappell, a 41-year-old investment banker who became a quadriplegic after suffering a spinal cord injury while mountain biking four years ago. Chappell said stem cell research could help people like him recover from injuries and illness.
The Bush administration, according to a Kerry campaign statement, removed information about global warming from a 2003 Environmental Protection Agency report; ordered changes to a report that described damage that would be caused by drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and deleted information about condoms from government Web sites.
The Denver trip is Kerry's first public campaign visit to Colorado, a traditionally Republican-leaning state that chose Bill Clinton in 1992. Kerry's advisers say Colorado could be won by a Democrat again this year because of the growing Hispanic population and jobs losses under Bush.
Kerry also hopes to have special appeal because he was born at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital near Denver, which he mentioned at least three times during his visit. Kerry, who served in the Vietnam War, also is reaching out to the many veterans who live there.
Kerry spokesman David Wade said Kerry raised $1 million for his campaign and $400,000 for the Democratic National Committee at a fund-raiser in Denver. He also made a quick stop in Aspen for a $500,000 luncheon fund-raiser at the home of Michael Goldberg, president of Miami-based airline leasing company Aerolease International. Kerry invited Aspen resident and writer Hunter S. Thompson to ride in his motorcade and brought three copies of Thompson's book about the 1972 presidential race, ''Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail'' for autographs.
DENVER (June 21) - Democrat John Kerry, backed by 48 Nobel Prize winners, on Monday criticized President Bush for allowing ideology rather than facts to determine science policies and repeated his pledge to overturn the ban on federal funding of research on new stem cell lines.
''We need a president who will once again embrace our tradition of looking toward the future and new discoveries with hope based on scientific facts, not fear,'' Kerry told hundreds who braved a cold rain to hear him speak at an outdoor amphitheater, even though he was an hour and a half late.
The Massachusetts senator canceled an appearance Tuesday in Albuquerque and was flying back to Washington to vote in the Senate for mandatory financing of veterans health care. In New Mexico, Kerry was to describe his plan for further federal investments in science and technology.
In a letter endorsing Kerry, 48 scientists who have won the Nobel Prize said the Bush administration is undermining the nation's future by impeding medical advances, turning away scientific talent with its immigration practices and ignoring scientific consensus on global warming and other critical issues.
''Unlike previous administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, the Bush administration has ignored unbiased scientific advice in the policy-making that is so important to our collective welfare,'' their letter stated.
Dr. Burton Richter, the 1976 Nobel laureate in physics, said it was unusual for such a large number of Nobel winners to endorse a particular political candidate.
''I hope you take that as a sign of how seriously all of us think the errors of our present course are,'' Richter told reporters in a conference call arranged by Kerry's campaign.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said the president's budget increases federal research and development to $132 billion in 2005, a 44 percent increase since taking office.
''Only John Kerry would declare the country to be in scientific decline on a day when the country's first privately funded space trip is successfully completed,'' Schmidt said, referring to the first flight of a privately financed manned rocket over California.
The Kerry campaign said the Massachusetts senator will invest in scientific research to foster discoveries to protect the economy as well as to help cure diseases. He also will rely on scientific leaders and expert advice when making decisions, the campaign said, and will allow stem cells to be researched in full under the appropriate ethical oversight.
Stem cell research gained renewed attention earlier this month after the death of former President Reagan, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease. His family, including former first lady Nancy Reagan, called for more research into the disease using stem cells. Fifty-eight senators - including Kerry - sent Bush a letter asking that he relax restrictions he imposed by executive order in August 2001. The White House has rejected those requests.
Nancy Reagan's ''pleas for stem cell research joined the pleas of millions across this country and reinforces in all of us the need to tear down every wall today that keeps us from finding the cures of tomorrow,'' Kerry said. ''I have full faith that our scientists will go forward with a moral compass - with humane values and sound ethics guiding the way.''
Kerry was introduced by Chris Chappell, a 41-year-old investment banker who became a quadriplegic after suffering a spinal cord injury while mountain biking four years ago. Chappell said stem cell research could help people like him recover from injuries and illness.
The Bush administration, according to a Kerry campaign statement, removed information about global warming from a 2003 Environmental Protection Agency report; ordered changes to a report that described damage that would be caused by drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and deleted information about condoms from government Web sites.
The Denver trip is Kerry's first public campaign visit to Colorado, a traditionally Republican-leaning state that chose Bill Clinton in 1992. Kerry's advisers say Colorado could be won by a Democrat again this year because of the growing Hispanic population and jobs losses under Bush.
Kerry also hopes to have special appeal because he was born at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital near Denver, which he mentioned at least three times during his visit. Kerry, who served in the Vietnam War, also is reaching out to the many veterans who live there.
Kerry spokesman David Wade said Kerry raised $1 million for his campaign and $400,000 for the Democratic National Committee at a fund-raiser in Denver. He also made a quick stop in Aspen for a $500,000 luncheon fund-raiser at the home of Michael Goldberg, president of Miami-based airline leasing company Aerolease International. Kerry invited Aspen resident and writer Hunter S. Thompson to ride in his motorcade and brought three copies of Thompson's book about the 1972 presidential race, ''Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail'' for autographs.
