Barbara Boxer: “I believe anyone who listens to us will agree this issue of privacy of medical records is really moving to the forefront…”

“I believe anyone who listens to us will agree this issue of privacy of medical records is really moving to the forefront of American public discourse. I think we all believe certain things should be private. Certainly our medical records should be private unless we are very willing to discuss them or have them discussed. I am very pleased Senator Stevens and Senator Inouye support this amendment, and having received assurances they will work for it in the conference, I am not going to ask for a recorded vote. But I think it is a breakthrough that the managers have accepted this amendment. I wish to make a point here about privacy of medical records. The Department of Defense is no better or no worse than any other Federal agency because all the Federal agencies have been going by the rules that were set forth in 1974. That is when we wrote the rules surrounding privacy, the Privacy Act of 1974, that really govern all the rules of privacy surrounding Federal employees, be they in the military or in the nonmilitary.”