Anna Eshoo: “I want to first begin by saluting our colleague, Louise Slaughter, and Mrs. Biggert, who has worked so hard on this.…”

“I want to first begin by saluting our colleague, Louise Slaughter, and Mrs. Biggert, who has worked so hard on this. This is really all about the future, except we had to struggle for 13 years in order to recognize it. But today, we do. And it is a singular extraordinary achievement, not only on the watch of Chairwoman Slaughter, but today for the full House to pass this legislation. We know that in the makeup of our humanity is a genetic profile. Researchers and scientists have demonstrated what the potential is if in fact, not only through the human genome project, the sequencing, and the discovery of all that is hidden in it, what that portends for humanity. But there's another side of this, and that is a darker side. The darker side is entitled: Discrimination. That if that information, our genetic makeup is used by insurers to discriminate against people. So today what we are doing is eliminating that block, that discrimination that stands in the way of the fullness of the potential of our genetic profile and how it can be not only accumulated but used to the benefit of humanity. That is what this legislation represents. When we pass it and the President signs it into law, this legislation will not only end the discrimination and all that is attendant to it, but that from this day forward the principles of preventive medicine, the reduction of health care costs, the advancement of research, and the saving of lives will be the order of the day.”