Rob Andrews: “I'd like to thank and congratulate my dear friend from New York for a stellar achievement in her stellar work here in…”

“I'd like to thank and congratulate my dear friend from New York for a stellar achievement in her stellar work here in the Congress, and to thank Mrs. Biggert, who has fought with great vigor and enthusiasm for this bill. Madam Speaker, here's what Ms. Slaughter and Mrs. Biggert have achieved. Somewhere this morning, a family is going to get news that a biopsy came back with bad news, that someone they love has a tumor, and that family is going to go through the agony of the next couple of months or even years of wondering if that person they love so much is going to live or die. Now the progress we have made in this country, thank God, has let many more of those people live. But the ultimate progress is to get to the genetic puzzle that makes that person susceptible to that tumor in the first place. The way we are going to find the solution to that puzzle is by gathering data by more and more people being willing to share their genetic information with the brightest men and women in this country. Right now there's a justifiable fear that if you share your genetic information, someone may misuse it to deny you a job, deny you an insurance policy, or hurt you in some other way. This bill lifts that burden, lifts that fear, and will stimulate millions of Americans to voluntarily, privately and safely participate so they can be part of finding this puzzle.”