Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Mr. Pallone's courtesy in permitting me to speak on this bill. I respect his efforts, and I respect a number of his concerns. But I do think that the work that we have done with Mr. Mullin, with the committee, and I appreciate the subcommittee's extra efforts to work through these elements, listen to people's objections, and to do it right. There has been no argument that this provision has cost lives. The failure in emergency rooms, other circumstances, for people to not be able to get the full picture of a patient's condition ends up sometimes with tragic consequences. We have yet to hear any reason why we shouldn't coordinate. Now, I appreciate concerns about patient privacy, but as Dr. Burgess and my friend from Oklahoma point out, we are strengthening provisions under this bill for disclosure. People don't want to stigmatize those with substance abuse, we agree. But having a separate system that people have to go through just for substance abuse implies a stigma. People will think there is something wrong with these people. You don't do this for AIDS anymore. This harmonizes with all the other HIPAA provisions. Candidly, forcing people to go through yet another step probably raises questions about the validity of disclosure, raising questions in the minds of those who go through that. Mr.…”