{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/select-panel-votes-are-designed-to-drive-researchers-healthcare", "Select Panel Votes are Designed to Drive Researchers, Healthcare Providers Out of Business, DeGette Says", "2016-09-20", "2016", "2016-09", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Diana DeGette", "D000197", "degette.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, DC \u2013 Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) today said tomorrow\u2019s hastily-arranged Select Panel votes are designed to harass researchers and will put their life-saving work at risk.\n\u201cEnough with the smear campaigns, fishing expeditions and endless stream of subpoenas,\u201dsaid DeGette, who is co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus and a senior member of the Panel.\u00a0\u201cCongressional bullying to drive researchers and healthcare providers out of business is a clear abuse of power and has to stop.\u201d\nOn Monday evening, Chair Marsha Blackburn announced to media and then to Panel members that on Wednesday they would vote on whether to begin contempt proceedings against StemExpress.\u00a0Among its wide range of services to researchers around the globe, the small biotechnology company procures fetal tissue with the aim of using stem cells for vital\u00a0research that will accelerate prevention and cures of significant medical conditions such as Alzheimer\u2019s disease and multiple sclerosis.\u00a0\nStemExpress was a key target of the deceptively-edited videos created by anti-abortion extremist David Daleiden and the \u201cCenter for Medical Progress.\u201d\u00a0Republican Panel members have embraced Daleiden\u2019s cause from the outset of this investigation.\u00a0\nThe Panel will also consider a resolution authorizing Chair Blackburn to release a researcher\u2019s May 11, 2016, deposition.\nChair Blackburn\u2019s broad and burdensome demands for documents and other tactics to imply criminal misconduct by this company and others have had a chilling effect on researchers and healthcare providers, DeGette said.\n\u201cOverly aggressive investigations have already drummed one tissue procurement company out of business, created pressure that resulted in a significant drop in donations to StemExpress, and put a stop to promising studies and clinical trials,\u201d DeGette noted.\u00a0\u201cDangerous and inflammatory rhetoric by Panel members has been echoed verbatim to justify attacks on healthcare providers, including in Colorado Springs.\u00a0We have long called for this panel to be disbanded before it does any more damage. This latest stunt is intended only to harass people involved in life-saving work. It is as reckless as it is baseless.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://degette.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/select-panel-votes-are-designed-to-drive-researchers-healthcare"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.583324909210205, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}