[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 9, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E550-E551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               NEWBORN SCREENING SAVES LIVES ACT OF 2007

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                               speech of

                             HON. RON PAUL

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 2008

  Mr. PAUL. Madam Speaker, as an OB-GYN I take a back seat to no one 
when it comes to caring about the health of newborn children. However, 
as a Representative who has taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, I 
cannot support legislation, no matter how much I sympathize with the 
legislation's stated goals, that exceeds the Constitutional limitations 
on Federal power or in any way threatens the liberty of the American 
people. Since S. 1858 violates the Constitution, and may have 
unintended consequences that will weaken the American health care 
system and further erode medical privacy, I must oppose it.
  S. 1858 gives the Federal bureaucracy the authority to develop a 
model newborn screening program. Madam Speaker, the Federal Government 
lacks both the constitutional authority and the competence to develop a 
newborn screening program adequate for a nation as large and diverse as 
the United States. Some will say that the program is merely a guide for 
local hospitals. However, does anyone seriously doubt that, whatever 
the flaws contained in the model eventually adopted by the Federal 
Government, almost every hospital in the country will scrap their own 
newborn screening programs in favor of the Federal model? After all, no 
hospital will want to risk losing Federal funding because they did not 
adopt the ``federally approved'' plan for newborn screening. Thus, this 
bill takes another step toward the nationalization of health care.

[[Page E551]]

  As the Federal Government assumes more control over health care, 
medical privacy has increasingly come under assault. Those of us in the 
medical profession should be particularly concerned about policies 
allowing Government officials and State-favored interests to access our 
medical records without our consent. After all, patient confidentiality 
is the basis of the trust that must underline a positive physician-
patient relationship. Yet my review of S. 1858 indicates the drafters 
of the legislation made no effort to ensure these newborn screening 
programs do not violate the privacy rights of parents and children.
  In fact, by directing Federal bureaucrats to create a contingency 
plan for newborn screening in the event of a ``public health'' 
disaster, this bill may lead to further erosions of medical privacy. As 
recent history so eloquently illustrates, politicians are more than 
willing to take, and people are more than willing to cede, liberty 
during times of ``emergency.'' Thus, most people will gladly sacrifice 
their families' medical privacy if they are told it is necessary to 
protect them from a Government-declared health emergency, while the 
Federal Government will be very unlikely to relinquish its new powers 
when the emergency passes.
  I am also skeptical, to say the least, that a top-down Federal plan 
to screen any part of the population will effectively help meet the 
challenges facing the health care system in the event of a real public 
emergency. State and local Governments working together with health 
care providers, can better come up with effective ways to deal with 
public health emergencies than can any Federal bureaucracy. It is for 
these reasons, Madam Speaker, that I oppose S. 1858.

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