Current state of federal funding and oversight On August 9, 2001, President Bush announced, that for the first time, federal funding would be used for human embryonic stem cell research, but only on the stem cell lines that were created prior to that date. At the time of the 2001 policy announcement, 78 stem cell lines were assumed eligible for federal funding. Since that time and as of today, very few lines — just 21 — are available for distribution and study due to contamination and changes to the cells over time rendering them unusable. This means that the limited number of available cell lines prevent funding of many excellent research studies on numerous diseases. Though federal law allows all forms of stem cell research in the U.S., federal funding is restricted. And, because President Bush's policy has not kept pace with our nation's scientific and medical progress, Senators and Representatives worked to pass the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act in both the House and the Senate. In 2006 and 2007 the bill was presented to President Bush for his signature to make it law. Because the President did not support the bill, he used his veto power to block it, and his policy limiting research funding still stands. The Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would have allowed federal research funding for new cell lines created from donated embryos that were no longer needed by couples undergoing infertility treatment in IVF clinics, and were slated to be discarded. The bill called for even stronger ethical requirements on federally funded stem cell lines. Its bipartisan co-sponsors and both houses of Congress believed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act would help speed progress toward cures and treatments, while maintaining ethical and enforceable guidelines. The leadership at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has stated publicly their belief that it is important that our nation find a way to support and pursue both adult and embryonic stem cell research.