Wise Young
06-13-2004, 01:33 PM
Press Release
Source: Newsweek
NEWSWEEK COVER: Nancy's Story
Sunday June 13, 10:43 am ET
Her Stem-Cell Crusade: Can We Cure Alzheimer's?
Patti Davis Says Her Mother Has Emerged As Central Figure In Effort 'To Get The Federal Government Out of the Way'; 'She Is the Voice of Stem-Cell Research Now'
NIH Director to Meet With Representatives Who Urge Easing of Restrictions on Research
NEW YORK, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Davis writes that 10 years ago, when her father wrote his last letter to the country, if you heard the words "stem-cell research," you would have no idea what it meant unless you were a scientist and particularly well informed. "Now, in 2004, it is the miracle that can not only cure Alzheimer's but many other diseases and afflictions. Now, in 2004, my mother has emerged as a central figure in the effort to get the federal government out of the way. If that phrase about the government sounds familiar, it should. I grew up hearing my father say often that the government should get out of the way," Davis writes in the current issue of Newsweek. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040613/NYSU004 )
She says she also grew up hearing her father say that everything happens for a reason and that "God has a plan." Now, with his death from Alzheimer's disease, she says her mother has a chance to make a contribution to this country and to the world. "She is the voice for stem-cell research now. But she found her full voice only recently; it was just a few weeks ago that she was publicly honored for her efforts -- an honor that placed her firmly at center stage. It has also placed her firmly against the White House -- at least those currently in residence there. I swear I can hear my father chuckling at that."
Davis's essay is part of the July 21 Newsweek cover package, "Nancy's Story. Her Stem-Cell Crusade: Can We Cure Alzheimer's?" (on newsstands Monday, July 14). In Washington, the political future of stem-cell medicine remains unclear. Last month President Bush's domestic-policy adviser reiterated the president's stance in a meeting with Reps. Diana DeGette and Michael Castle, bipartisan architects of a House letter signed by more than 200 members urging Bush to relax his restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research. This week, National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni will sit down with them as well, Newsweek has learned. "It's my hope that the president will revisit the issue," says Republican Senator Arlen Specter, an embryonic-stem-cell advocate.
Newspapers ran editorials calling on President Bush to honor Ronald Reagan's legacy by revising his stem-cell policy and a New York congressman introduced the Ronald Reagan Memorial Stem Cell Research Act of 2004. All of this infuriated embryonic opponents: one senior Republican aide said naming stem-cell legislation after the president, who was ardently opposed to abortion, was "unbelievably shameless." But out of respect for Reagan, the adversaries mostly held their fire. Bush stayed mum, but privately officials said he would not budge on his opposition to destroying human embryos for the sake of science. "No dramatic advance, no scientific development will change the ethical principle" underlying Bush's position, a senior administration official told Newsweek last week.
The cover package also includes a report on how Nancy Reagan cared for her husband these last 10 years and exclusive recollections of him from past presidents and close acquaintances. Highlights:
* Former President George H.W. Bush: "It's early to judge him in terms of
history, but I think President Reagan will rank very high. He had a
handful of principles, and he stuck to them. Communism is bad, high
taxes are bad, free enterprise is good, and he stayed with those, even
when there were some necessary variations when he had to compromise with
a hostile Congress. But he used these strong, strong beliefs to shape
his presidency, and I think most people now will see that."
* Former President Gerald Ford: "I would have loved to have had him on my
ticket as vice president in 1976. I thought he would have made a great,
great teammate. I still think so. But we got the word -- it came to Don
Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, who were my principal advisers -- that if I
won the nomination, under no circumstances should we ask Reagan to run
as my running mate. I was disappointed because I believe a Ford-Reagan
team would have prevailed against the Democrats."
* Former President Bill Clinton: "Even when our policy differences were
sharp, he was never mean-spirited about it. He always had a capacity to
see beyond partisanship to our common belief in a brighter future for
America and the world. I especially admired his unmistakable belief that
freedom is a universal value that would come in time to all people in
the world, and that we all had a responsibility to help speed the coming
of that day."
* Kirk Douglas, actor: "He gave validity to the theory that a poor
American boy has a chance to grow up to become president. During his
eight years in that office, he radiated that optimism to the world.
Holly wood is often thought of as a home of liberal Democrats. But
Hollywood's most important contribution in the political arena was
Reagan: the man who won the cold war."
* Dennis LeBlanc, former aide and ranch hand: "He felt rejuvenated after
doing a lot of physical labor. When we went up to work, he went up to
work. There was never a day that we took off to relax. He did not like
to stay in the house. He was up there to work, so he was going to be
busy."
* A.C. Lyles, Hollywood producer: "He'd just been shot, and I think this
was his first trip after that. And the people were very worried about
his being shot again. In the middle of the speech, there was a 'pow.'
Everybody ducked. Ronnie just looked over in the direction of where the
sound came from and said, 'You missed me.' It was a backfire outside."
( Read complete cover package at http://www.Newsweek.com )
Source: Newsweek
NEWSWEEK COVER: Nancy's Story
Sunday June 13, 10:43 am ET
Her Stem-Cell Crusade: Can We Cure Alzheimer's?
Patti Davis Says Her Mother Has Emerged As Central Figure In Effort 'To Get The Federal Government Out of the Way'; 'She Is the Voice of Stem-Cell Research Now'
NIH Director to Meet With Representatives Who Urge Easing of Restrictions on Research
NEW YORK, June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronald Reagan's daughter Patti Davis writes that 10 years ago, when her father wrote his last letter to the country, if you heard the words "stem-cell research," you would have no idea what it meant unless you were a scientist and particularly well informed. "Now, in 2004, it is the miracle that can not only cure Alzheimer's but many other diseases and afflictions. Now, in 2004, my mother has emerged as a central figure in the effort to get the federal government out of the way. If that phrase about the government sounds familiar, it should. I grew up hearing my father say often that the government should get out of the way," Davis writes in the current issue of Newsweek. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040613/NYSU004 )
She says she also grew up hearing her father say that everything happens for a reason and that "God has a plan." Now, with his death from Alzheimer's disease, she says her mother has a chance to make a contribution to this country and to the world. "She is the voice for stem-cell research now. But she found her full voice only recently; it was just a few weeks ago that she was publicly honored for her efforts -- an honor that placed her firmly at center stage. It has also placed her firmly against the White House -- at least those currently in residence there. I swear I can hear my father chuckling at that."
Davis's essay is part of the July 21 Newsweek cover package, "Nancy's Story. Her Stem-Cell Crusade: Can We Cure Alzheimer's?" (on newsstands Monday, July 14). In Washington, the political future of stem-cell medicine remains unclear. Last month President Bush's domestic-policy adviser reiterated the president's stance in a meeting with Reps. Diana DeGette and Michael Castle, bipartisan architects of a House letter signed by more than 200 members urging Bush to relax his restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research. This week, National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni will sit down with them as well, Newsweek has learned. "It's my hope that the president will revisit the issue," says Republican Senator Arlen Specter, an embryonic-stem-cell advocate.
Newspapers ran editorials calling on President Bush to honor Ronald Reagan's legacy by revising his stem-cell policy and a New York congressman introduced the Ronald Reagan Memorial Stem Cell Research Act of 2004. All of this infuriated embryonic opponents: one senior Republican aide said naming stem-cell legislation after the president, who was ardently opposed to abortion, was "unbelievably shameless." But out of respect for Reagan, the adversaries mostly held their fire. Bush stayed mum, but privately officials said he would not budge on his opposition to destroying human embryos for the sake of science. "No dramatic advance, no scientific development will change the ethical principle" underlying Bush's position, a senior administration official told Newsweek last week.
The cover package also includes a report on how Nancy Reagan cared for her husband these last 10 years and exclusive recollections of him from past presidents and close acquaintances. Highlights:
* Former President George H.W. Bush: "It's early to judge him in terms of
history, but I think President Reagan will rank very high. He had a
handful of principles, and he stuck to them. Communism is bad, high
taxes are bad, free enterprise is good, and he stayed with those, even
when there were some necessary variations when he had to compromise with
a hostile Congress. But he used these strong, strong beliefs to shape
his presidency, and I think most people now will see that."
* Former President Gerald Ford: "I would have loved to have had him on my
ticket as vice president in 1976. I thought he would have made a great,
great teammate. I still think so. But we got the word -- it came to Don
Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, who were my principal advisers -- that if I
won the nomination, under no circumstances should we ask Reagan to run
as my running mate. I was disappointed because I believe a Ford-Reagan
team would have prevailed against the Democrats."
* Former President Bill Clinton: "Even when our policy differences were
sharp, he was never mean-spirited about it. He always had a capacity to
see beyond partisanship to our common belief in a brighter future for
America and the world. I especially admired his unmistakable belief that
freedom is a universal value that would come in time to all people in
the world, and that we all had a responsibility to help speed the coming
of that day."
* Kirk Douglas, actor: "He gave validity to the theory that a poor
American boy has a chance to grow up to become president. During his
eight years in that office, he radiated that optimism to the world.
Holly wood is often thought of as a home of liberal Democrats. But
Hollywood's most important contribution in the political arena was
Reagan: the man who won the cold war."
* Dennis LeBlanc, former aide and ranch hand: "He felt rejuvenated after
doing a lot of physical labor. When we went up to work, he went up to
work. There was never a day that we took off to relax. He did not like
to stay in the house. He was up there to work, so he was going to be
busy."
* A.C. Lyles, Hollywood producer: "He'd just been shot, and I think this
was his first trip after that. And the people were very worried about
his being shot again. In the middle of the speech, there was a 'pow.'
Everybody ducked. Ronnie just looked over in the direction of where the
sound came from and said, 'You missed me.' It was a backfire outside."
( Read complete cover package at http://www.Newsweek.com )