In 1998, privately funded research led to the breakthrough discovery ofHuman Embryonic Stem Cells (hESC). This prompted the ClintonAdministration to re-examine guidelines for federal funding ofembryonic research. In 1999, the president's National BioethicsAdvisory Commission recommended that hESC harvested from embryosdiscarded after in vitro fertility treatments, but not fromembryos created expressly for experimentation, be eligible for federalfunding. Even though embryos are always destroyed in the process ofharvesting hESC, the Clinton Administration decided that it would bepermissible under the Dickey Amendment to fund hESC research as long assuch research did not itself directly cause the destruction of anembryo. Therefore, HHS issued its proposed regulation concerning hESCfunding in 2001. Enactment of the new guidelines was delayed by theincoming George W. Bush administration which decided to reconsider the issue.