WASHINGTON – Sen. Susan Collins and a group of moderate Republicans held a rally Tuesday on Capitol Hill to send a message to President Bush that they do not see room for compromise on the issue of embryonic stem cell research.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the president, having fully established his conservative credentials, to establish his compassionate credentials,” Collins said. “Stem cell research represents hope for every American family.”

In a crowded press conference outside the Capitol, moderate Republicans in both the House and Senate joined with Democrats, advocates, and patients facing debilitating diseases to push the Bush administration to lift the current hold on embryonic stem cell research.

According to White House aides, Bush is currently “agonizing” over whether federal money should be used for research on stem cells extracted from surplus embryos discarded by fertility clinics.

The community of abortion opponents is divided on this issue. Former Reagan aides are pressing for the research, saying it could help people like the former president, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

But House Republican leaders Tom DeLay, R-Texas, J.C. Watts, R-Okla., and Dick Armey, R-Texas, wrote a letter to Bush, warning him that a pro-research decision would support “an industry of death.”

At the press conference, stem cell research supporters insisted that theirs was the true pro-life position.

“Mister President, you have a chance to be pro-life for a unimplanted embryo that will be discarded, or you can be pro-life for me,” said Shelbie Oppenheimer, a 35-year-old New Hope, Pa., resident diagnosed with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“I believe being pro-life means helping the living,” said Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. “Life begins in a woman’s womb, not in a scientist’s petri dish.”

White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card is expected to discuss the stem cell issue this week or next with members of Republican Main Street Partnership, a group of about 70 moderate Republicans.

“There is no room for compromise on stem cell research,” said Rep. Constance A. Morella, R-Md., a member of the Main Street group.

Another member of the group, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he thought stem cell research supporters had built an ”avalanche” of support for the procedure.

“It started out as a groundswell, now it’s an avalanche,” Specter said.

“We have 70 senators who will support the whole process.”