The repeal passed the House by a wide margin last year and enjoys bipartisan support in the Senate.

Despite popular support, the research is opposed by anti-abortion groups and many conservative lawmakers because it requires destroying a human embryo to remove its stem cells. If agreement on a debate is reached, lawmakers are also likely to consider another bill, this one promoting new -- and mostly unproven -- ways of extracting stem cells without harming embryos.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., seeks federal funding for "alternative nuclear transfer" technology, an experimental method in which human DNA is injected into an egg cell that then divides and produces stem cells. The resulting cell is usually pre-programmed to die after a few divisions.

Several anti-abortion groups have backed the method, branding the resulting cell not an embryo, but "tissue."

"I am satisfied ... that this is not a human embryo," said Santorum, who is heavily trailing in his bid for re-election against Robert Casey Jr., a pro-life Democrat.

The bill also promotes the use of stem cells from non-viable embryos stored for use in in-vitro fertilization, as well as from a method extracting single stem cells from 3-day-old embryos called blastomeres. The method has successfully given rise to stem-cell lines in mice but has never been tried in humans.

Stem cells have the ability to grow into any tissue of the body. Scientists want to use them because of their potential applications in treating a host of ailments, including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and spinal-cord injuries.

Supporters hope the new methods could provide a way around ethical landmines in the stem-cell debate. The bill could also give opponents like Santorum the chance to support research popular with voters without offending conservative groups.

But backers of expanding embryonic-stem-cell studies said existing technologies are the only ones proven to reliably offer cell lines useful for research. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., who has helped Santorum promote the alternative bill, said he would not back off of his own bill repealing President Bush's funding ban.

"It seems to me, if you're really interested in stem cell research, it doesn't sound like much of a choice," said Sen. Tom Harking, D-Iowa, co-sponsor of Specter's bill.

James Battey, who directs federal stem-cell projects at the National Institutes of Health, told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency still considers existing extraction methods the most reliable for obtaining stem cells.

He said "no published data" show that using stem cells from non-viable embryos would work and that researchers would have to "closely track" lines derived from defective embryos to be sure they were not themselves faulty.

An aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said leaders were still pursuing an agreement on debating three or four different stem-cell bills and that debate could come before August if agreement is reached.

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