Friendly Pa. senators at odds in stem cell debate
By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON ? For more than a decade, Pennsylvania's two Republican
senators, Arlen Specter of Philadelphia and Rick Santorum of Pittsburgh,
have avoided open spats. "I don't think we've ever come close to airing our
differences publicly," the moderate Specter said of his conservative colleague.
Until now.
As the Senate prepares to debate next month whether to allow federal
funding for stem cell research using human embryos, the Pennsylvanians have
taken leading roles on opposite sides. Santorum believes such research
entails destroying human life. Specter says the stem cells used would come
from embryos that would otherwise be discarded.
Their conflicting positions, despite shared constituents and political
affiliation, illustrate the rift within the Republican Party over the matter.
Last month, 50 House Republicans ignored President Bush's veto threat and
split from their party to support more federal funding for stem cell
research. Now Specter, sponsor of a similar Senate bill, finds himself
squared off against Santorum, who as the Senate's third-ranking leader
speaks for the party hierarchy.
"I don't know of another issue that is this high profile and this
controversial in which both have played such tremendous leadership roles,"
says Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin & Marshall College in
Lancaster, Pa.
Perhaps no other issue is as personal to the men Madonna calls
"Pennsylvania's odd couple":
?Specter. Having survived a brain tumor and heart-bypass surgery, Specter
was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease this year. At 75, he is again fighting
for his life.
The chairman of a key health appropriations panel, which has doubled
funding for the National Institutes of Health, is bald from biweekly
chemotherapy treatments. No latecomer to the stem cell issue, he held the
first congressional hearing on stem cells' medical potential in December 1998.
Specter believes stem cell research could lead to a possible cure for his
type of lymphatic cancer, as well as Parkinson's, diabetes and other diseases.
"My own experience with Hodgkin's creates a lot of personal anger that the
federal government has not done more," Specter says. Referring to Richard
Nixon's 1971 vow to find a cure for cancer, he says, "If that war on cancer
had been funded as well as their other wars, I think I wouldn't be taking
chemotherapy today."
'We do have sharp differences'
Specter's feelings were on display in an emotional exchange on ABC in May
with conservative Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., who has threatened to block
his stem cell bill. Brownback tried to make a point by asking, "When did
your life biologically start?" Specter replied, "Sam, I'm a lot more
concerned ... about when my life is going to end."
? Santorum. The father of six and a devout Catholic, Santorum equates
embryonic stem cell research with abortion.
"I don't believe the federal government should countenance the destruction
of human life, " he says. "It's all about politics, about scientists who
want to play God. ... Science is not a moral-free zone."
Santorum, 47, says he's gotten "a lot of schooling on this issue" from his
wife, Karen, a former neonatal intensive-care nurse, and her father, a
geneticist.
During a 1996 Senate debate on late-term abortion, he and Karen learned
that the fetus she was carrying had a fatal condition. They rejected
doctors' advice to have an abortion. Gabriel Santorum died two hours after
being delivered prematurely at 20 weeks.
"Specter knows and believes first-hand in the power of medicine to combat
deadly diseases. No one is ahead of him in support of basic research and
funding it in the Senate," says Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania
bioethicist. "Santorum has very strong, core beliefs on the sanctity of
life. He will not change his vote; he will not change his mind."
On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and other bill supporters said they
would lobby fence-sitting senators to take action when they return after
the July Fourth recess. Former first lady Nancy Reagan, who lobbied House
members in May, plans to weigh in behind the scenes with senators.
"There's a real tension in the public's mind" over stem cell research,
Republican pollster Whit Ayres says. "That tension is reflected in the
minds of the two Pennsylvania senators."
Specter says he and Santorum have discussed stem cells with each other only
once, while meeting with Bush last year during one of the president's trips
to Pennsylvania to help Specter win a fifth Senate term.
"It was civil, collegial, factual," Specter says. He offered no other details.
Neither will criticize the other.
"We do have sharp differences," Specter says. He adds that they respect
each other too much to strong-arm the other.
"We don't go to pick at issues where we disagree," he says. Those include
most social issues, including a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Santorum said he and Specter have "a great relationship" and are "close
personally and professionally."
He added, "I respect Sen. Specter and what he feels passionately about.
That's what the legislative arena is all about."
Helping each other politically
Madonna says the pair have developed a "rock solid" relationship after a
rough start in 1994 when Specter tried to recruit several moderate
Republicans to oppose Santorum's first Senate bid. Specter later threw his
support to the young congressman and helped Santorum win the Philadelphia
suburbs to eke out a narrow victory over Democrat Harris Wofford.
Santorum repaid the favor last year. Despite Specter's centrist views,
Santorum defended him from a strong challenge from conservative Pat Toomey.
"Without his help," Specter says, "I wouldn't have won the primary."
Nor, arguably, would he have been able to fend off an attempt by
conservative activists after the election to deny Specter the chairmanship
of the Judiciary Committee, despite his seniority.
Santorum "took a lot of criticism from those on the right" for helping
Specter in both cases, says Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, an abortion rights
opponent who favors embryonic stem cell research.
Now it's Specter's turn again. He has raised more than $500,000 this year
for Santorum's 2006 re-election campaign. He says the younger senator's
two-term seniority and rapid rise in the Senate leadership "means a lot to
Pennsylvania."
Santorum will be the Democrats' "main" Senate target next year, says Sen.
Charles Schumer of New York, head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee. Pennsylvania polls have shown Democratic state treasurer Robert
Casey, his likely opponent, leading Santorum. Unlike Specter, Casey shares
Santorum's opposition to expanding federal funding for embryonic stem cell
research.
Despite their split on stem cell research, Santorum and Specter agree on much.
Specter, a supporter of abortion rights, sided with Santorum against
late-term abortion. They have voted together on bills to halt Syrian
support of terrorism and to increase funding in Pennsylvania for everything
from job training to AIDS care.
"They're not bosom buddies; they don't hang around together, but they've
worked out this accommodation," Madonna says. "They continue to support
each other come hell or high water."
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