Earl Blumenauer: “I support the modernization principles in this long overdue financial legislation. It has been years in the making and…”

“I support the modernization principles in this long overdue financial legislation. It has been years in the making and this legislation is about as good as it is going to get. On balance, it will improve the competitiveness of our financial system and provide more choices for consumers. There has emerged a growing concern about protecting the privacy rights of Americans. These concerns are independent, but related to financial services. Privacy is a major issue in business practices generally and in the health care system in particular. I am disappointed that the Republican Leadership did not allow several provisions to be discussed that would have strengthened the protections and I believe they would have made H.R. 10 a better bill. Nonetheless, these concerns are not going to go away. They will be a part of the Patients' Bill of Rights legislation and may be the subject of a comprehensive stand alone bill that will spell out what protections Americans can expect from their government regarding sensitive and personal data. Even though we were denied an opportunity to deal with these issues in connection with H.R. 10, I hope the attention and the controversy will spur this Congress to action and that we will not adjourn until we provide a vehicle for understanding the rights and responsibility surrounding individual privacy.”