[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Page H78]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  PRIVACY OF AMERICANS IS UNDER ATTACK

  (Mr. HUTCHINSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HUTCHINSON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to address a growing 
concern in this Nation, and that is the concern that the privacy of 
Americans is under attack. With the explosion of the Internet, changes 
in financial and medical laws and an increasingly intrusive Federal 
Government, people's personal information seems to be collected, sold, 
and transferred without adequate protections.
  Madam Speaker, Congress must be engaged on this issue. In the last 
Congress, 250 of my colleagues joined me in supporting a bill 
establishing a historic commission that would have studied the 
protection of an individual's privacy. This would be the first such 
commission in 25 years. Now that the 107th Congress has begun, our 
agenda is very full; but the protection of the individual privacy 
remains one of the most important issues that we could address.
  Several bills have been introduced. They should be considered. I 
encourage Congress to take up privacy legislation, but I believe it 
should be done in a responsible manner that allows for the appropriate 
flow of information without compromising the privacy of individuals. I 
believe a privacy commission is the right way to address this very 
important subject.

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