Asa Hutchinson: “Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission released a report to Congress. This report dealt with the issue of online…”

“Yesterday the Federal Trade Commission released a report to Congress. This report dealt with the issue of online privacy. The report stated: "Ongoing consumer concerns regarding privacy online and the limited success of self-regulatory efforts to date make it time for the government to act to protect consumers' privacy on the Internet." The important impact of this report is that it urges action by Congress. It is time that we do not simply leave it to the regulators but that we take legislative action on the issue of privacy. The best vehicle for this purpose is the privacy study commission bill that I have introduced along with the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Moran). It is a bipartisan bill patterned after the privacy study commission of 1974 that gave us hallmark legislation. We need to address it again. It is comprehensive, it is bipartisan, it is a thoughtful approach to the issue of privacy. It is set for markup in the committee on government reform. I urge my colleagues to take a look at it because it is time that we were able to go back to the voters and say we are going to do something about the issue of privacy.”