TAXPAYER BILL OF RIGHTS 2000 -- (Extensions of Remarks - April 13, 2000)

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SPEECH OF HON. MAX SANDLIN

OF TEXAS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Tuesday, April 11, 2000

Mr. SANDLIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2000. This legislation offers strong protections of taxpayers, including much-needed safeguards on personal information. This bill recognizes the importance of protecting taxpayers' privacy and would help prevent the illegal disclosure of personal information.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights, however, fulfills only a small part of our obligation to protect individual privacy. Last year, I voted for legislation, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization bill, that contained new federal protections of consumers' financial privacy. This legislation, which passed Congress and was signed into law by the President, allows consumers to protect their privacy by choosing to opt-out of information sharing by their financial institutions.

The protections included in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act are an important beginning
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and represent a minimum federal standard. Most importantly, the new law affords states the opportunity to pass even tougher restrictions on information sharing, thus giving them the chance to enact their own consumer privacy protections above and beyond the federal minimum.

Allowing consumers the right to opt-out is a step in the right direction, although we still have many challenges ahead of us with regard to adequately protecting medical information and safeguarding Internet privacy. I urge my colleagues to join me in this important effort and continue to work hard to protect the privacy rights of every American.
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