House Democrats plan to introduce bills that would reduce restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and allow HHS to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices for medications under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Wednesday, CQ Today reports.
House Democrats have promised to pass both bills within the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress, which begins on Thursday (Ferrechio, CQ Today, 1/3). House Democrats plan to address the embryonic stem cell research bill on Jan. 11 (Weisman, Washington Post, 1/4). Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) on Thursday plans to introduce the legislation in the Senate, although the Senate might wait to address the bill until late January or early February, Harkin aides said. President Bush vetoed similar legislation last year (Norman, Des Moines Register, 1/4). According to CQ Today, because Democrats "have nowhere near the two-thirds majority of both chambers needed to override a presidential veto, ... they will have to decide fairly quick whether they want to enact laws or make political points" (Kady, CQ Today, 1/2).