[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 30 (Wednesday, March 10, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   ANOTHER RULING FOR MEDICAL PRIVACY

  (Mr. EMANUEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, last year Congress created a zone of 
privacy that blacks out the transfer of personal medical information. 
There should be a sign above one's medical information that reads, ``Do 
not enter.'' It has been a bipartisan effort.
  On Monday, a Federal judge interpreted that law to mean that the 
Justice Department's demands for medical records from university 
hospitals, like Northwestern University in Chicago, was an undue 
intrusion on patients' rights.
  Federal and State laws already on the books prevent that kind of 
intrusive breach. Congressional action last year to black out sharing 
confidential health records further solidified bipartisan support for 
medical privacy for all Americans, and I am pleased that in the last 48 
hours, the Justice Department has decided to withdraw their subpoena 
and information request from the hospitals who have stood strong in the 
face of this intrusion of privacy by the Federal Government.
  As William Safire of The New York Times this morning noted, ``a 
balance must be struck between protecting all of us and protecting each 
one of us.''
  Mr. Speaker, guaranteeing Americans their medical privacy is a 
critical first step toward that goal.

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