Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to H.R. 493, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, I do want to thank my friend from New York, the gentlewoman and chairman of the Committee on Rules, for yielding me this time to discuss this proposed rule for consideration of H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act.

Like my colleague, I too rise in support of this rule which would allow the House to agree with the Senate compromise and pass H.R. 493, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, or GINA.

As the gentlewoman knows, this legislation has a long history. She's worked on it for a long, long time, as we heard in testimony given to the Rules Committee yesterday and the accolades that were given the gentlewoman for her support of this, as well as the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert). First introduced in 1995, it has been cosponsored by 224 of our colleagues in this Congress. The House overwhelmingly passed this legislation last April, and with the Senate's recent approval and President Bush's pledged support, I look forward to seeing this legislation signed into law quickly.

Madam Speaker, genetics are extremely important to determining the health of every single individual. Each of us carries a handful of genetic anomalies, some of which might cause us to be affected by genetic conditions or affect the health of our children. There are currently 1,200 genetic tests that can diagnose thousands of health conditions. This number has grown exponentially from just around 100 genetic tests a short decade ago.

Every day scientists are learning more about the genetic causes of many devastating diseases. Stopping these debilitating illnesses will require the voluntary participation of hundreds of thousands of Americans in the clinical research area needed to identify, test, and approve effective treatments. This information is invaluable to managing our country's health and bringing down the overall cost of health care.

Currently, a few States provide protections for genetic information, but most provide none. This leaves Americans with little to no certainty about how their genetic rights are protected from State to State.

Additionally, genetic information is not properly covered under the current HIPAA regulations. It is necessary for Congress to provide legal protection for genetic information and clinical trials so Americans can get tested for health care concerns without fear of misuse or discrimination. This legislation ensures that all will be protected.

Currently, the fear of misuse of genetic information is preventing people from getting these important genetic tests done. The refusal to utilize effective genetic tests hurts individuals, researchers, and doctors alike. Lack of testing denies individuals important medical information that they could otherwise use to be proactively managing their health with their doctor. The information garnered by these tests also helps doctors to prescribe treatments and lifestyle changes with increased success. The same information can be used by researchers to effectively create targeted drugs and develop treatments.

Fear of discrimination has also caused a large number of people to opt out of clinical trials. With fewer participants in clinical trials, we will see slower development of treatments and beneficial drugs. In addition, clinical trials provide patients in late stages of the diseases with access to breakthrough treatments that might otherwise be unavailable.

This House has correctly recognized this issue by protecting those who obtain genetic tests in addition to those who volunteer to participate in clinical research for genetic diseases. I would like to commend my colleagues Sue Myrick, Kenny Hulshof, and Dr. Tom Price for leading the efforts to protect the importance of these clinical trials.

But none of this would be any good today, Madam Speaker, if the American public did not overwhelmingly support the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. About 93 percent of Americans believe that if someone has a genetic test, their employer should not have the right to know the results. Republicans and Democrats want to see their genetic information protected.

I rise in support of this rule and the underlying bill and look forward to its passage.

I once again want to thank the gentlewoman from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert) and the gentlewoman from New York, the chairman of the Rules Committee, for their hard work.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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