Stem Cell Research and the Senate

Orrin Hatch says the Senate can make Mr. Bush back down on the most restrictive aspects of stem cell research as practiced during the Dark Ages of the Far Right. Is this a graceful out for the president or a slap in the puss for him?

Sen. Orrin Hatch, a Republican supporter of embryonic stem cell research, said Sunday there is wide support in the Senate to ease the Bush administration's restrictive policy.

Hatch said supporters have more than the 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, but he's unsure whether Congress would act "in this hot political atmosphere."

The Utah senator predicted on CNN's "Late Edition" that the administration and supporters of the research would reach a compromise that would include moral and ethical standards set by the National Institutes of Health.