Bush set to veto stem cell Bill cleared by Senate

President Bush readied the first veto of his presidency to stop legislation to ease limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.

President Bush readied the first veto of his presidency to stop legislation to ease limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said that was expected to happen about midday on Wednesday, and that Bush would veto the measure as promised.

While both the GOP-run House and Senate defied Bush in passing the measure to expand federally funded embryonic stem research, supporters do not appear to have the two-thirds vote margin needed to override such a veto.

Pleadings from celebrities, a former first lady and fellow Republicans did not move Bush from his determination to reject the Bill. Nor was Bush swayed by two days of emotional debate in Congress, punctuated by stories of personal and family suffering, that plunked lawmakers into the intersection of politics, morality and science.

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‘‘The president believes strongly that for the purpose of research, it’s inappropriate for the federal government to finance something that many people consider murder. He’s one of them,’’ White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

Strong majorities in the House and Senate joined sentiments with most Americans and passed a Bill that lifts restriction currently limiting federally funded research to stem cell lines created before August 9, 2001.

‘‘The unfortunate part is, if the president does veto the Bill, then it sets us back a year or so until we can finally pass a Bill that will have the requisite supermajority to be able to become law,’’ said Sen Orrin Hatch. ‘‘And that sets back embryonic stem cell research another year or so.’’

The Senate voted 63-37 on Tuesday, four votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto. The House last year fell 50 votes short of a veto-proof margin when it passed the same bill, 238-194.

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Bush’s stand against stem cells is popular among conservative Republicans that the party will rely on in the congressional elections this fall. Those opponents are the same voters who have felt alienated by Bush’s actions to increase legal immigration, and the veto could bring them back into the fold.

Although many in the religious right are passionately opposed to stem cell research, most Americans support it, and Bush risks alienating that majority in the critical midterm year. MARY DALRYMPLE