[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 18 (Thursday, February 17, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1595]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2005--Resumed

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 306) to prohibit discrimination on the basis of 
     genetic information with respect to health insurance and 
     employment.

  Mr. FRIST. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The question is on the passage of the bill.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. The following Senator was necessarily absent: the 
Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Specter).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Delaware (Mr. Biden) is 
necessarily absent.
  I further announce that if present and voting, the Senator from 
Delaware (Mr. Biden) would vote ``yea.''
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coleman). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 11 Leg.]

                                YEAS--98

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Burr
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Dayton
     DeMint
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Frist
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Isakson
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Obama
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Salazar
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Biden
     Specter
       
  The bill (S. 306), as amended, was passed.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I am pleased to have supported the 
``Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2005,'' a bill that will 
prohibit discrimination based on genetic information with respect to 
employment and health insurance. This bill represents much cooperation 
on the part of my colleagues, and I want to thank them for all the hard 
work done on this important issue.
  I am extremely pleased with today's passage of the Genetic 
Information Nondiscrimination Act as it marks a great milestone for 
those of us involved in the Human Genome Project. It seems only a short 
time ago that the Human Genome Project was created as a joint effort 
between the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. 
What progress we have made.
  In the last 2 years, there have been many events celebrating the 
completion of maps of the human genome. The genome map has brought a 
promise of improved health through revolutionary new treatments for 
illness and disease. The ultimate result of mapping the human genome is 
a complete genetic blueprint, a blueprint containing the most personal 
and most private information that any human being can have. We will now 
have a wealth of knowledge of how our countless individual traits are 
determined. And perhaps more important, we will have fundamental 
knowledge about the genes that can cause sickness and sometimes even 
death.
  Our personal and unique genetic information is the essence of our 
individuality. Our genetic blueprint is unique in each of us. However, 
as genetic testing becomes a more frequently used tool, we now must 
begin to address the ethical and legal issues regarding discrimination 
on the basis of genetic information. Questions regarding privacy and 
confidentiality, ownership and control, and consent for disclosure and 
use of genetic information need to be carefully considered.
  An unintended consequence of this new scientific revolution is the 
abuses that have arisen as a result of our gathering genetic 
information. Healthy people are being denied employment or health 
insurance because of their genetic information. By addressing the issue 
of nondiscrimination, we are affirming the right of an individual to 
have a measure of control over his or her personal genetic information.
  Genetic information only indicates a potential susceptibility to 
future illness. In fact, many individuals identified as having a 
hereditary condition are, indeed, healthy. Some people who test 
positive for genetic mutations associated with certain conditions may 
never develop those conditions at all. Genetic information does not 
necessarily diagnose disease. Yet many people in our society have been 
discriminated against because other people had access to information 
about their genes, and made determinations based on this information 
that the individual was too risky to ensure or unsafe to employ.
  While the issue is complex, our objective is clear; people should be 
encouraged to seek genetic services and they should not fear its 
discriminatory use or disclosure. The Genetic Information 
Nondiscrimination Act is an important first step toward protecting 
access for all Americans to employment and health services regardless 
of their genetic inheritance. There is simply no place in the health 
insurance or employment sector for discrimination based solely upon 
genetic information.

                          ____________________