PRIVACY COMMISSION ACT -- (Extensions of Remarks - October 03, 2000)

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SPEECH OF HON. PATSY T. MINK

OF HAWAII IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, October 2, 2000

Mrs. MINK of Hawaii. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong opposition to H.R. 4049, the Privacy Commission Act.

H.R. 4049 will establish a commission to study how best to protect individual privacy. In eighteen months this commission will provide its findings to Congress and the President.

Congress is already well aware of the ability of public and private institutions to gather and share data. While the gathering of personal data has heralded improvements in customer services and national security efforts, it threatens to undermine an individual's ability to protect their most private medical and financial information. Internationally, an individual's ability to control their most private information is considered a human right.

I am very concerned about the invasion of our private rights and that is why Congress should act now, not postpone action for another eighteen months when the commission's report is completed.

There is legislation before this body that would provide adequate protection for individual privacy. I am a cosponsor of three such bills: H.R. 1941, H.R. 2447, and H.R. 3320. These three bills will protect personal health information by limiting use and disclosure of such information, prohibit employment or health insurance discrimination based on genetic information, and amend the privacy provisions in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to prohibit financial institutions from disclosing, or making use of, nonpublic personal credit information. On May 1, 2000, President Clinton announced his consumer privacy plan which he presented to Congress stating ``we cannot allow new opportunities to erode old and fundamental rights.''

These bills and the President's plan should be considered by the full House. Individual privacy protection greatly concerns individuals in my district. They deserve to have this issue debated in full and addressed immediately. H.R. 4049 will serve only to delay this process, and in the end inform us and the American people what is already abundantly apparent: Congress must act immediately to protect individual privacy.
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