Bill Lee: “reserving the right to object, I first became aware of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when I was in the fifth grade, and…”

“reserving the right to object, I first became aware of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when I was in the fifth grade, and I read a story, a book, and later a series of books about my childhood hero Lou Gehrig, whose name is often used synonymously with this terrible ailment. It is a tragedy that his life was ended and helped bring about the end of his 2,138 consecutive game playing streak in Major League Baseball. This is a horrible disease, a progressive neurodegenerative condition that rapidly attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and eventually it affects the control of the muscles that are needed to move, to speak, and even to eat and to breathe. Sadly, it is always fatal. The bill now under consideration will grant a waiver from the Social Security Disability Insurance waiting period to victims of this terrible disease, no doubt with good, noble intentions, but what we have to remember is that this is not the only tragic disease Americans are dying from. Unfortunately, there are many others out there that are equally debilitating and equally fatal, and the Federal Government should not pick favorites to legislate from among them. Indeed, this kind of policy and approach to policymaking poses several problems. First, it sets the precedent that some diseases or disabilities deserve preferential treatment and not necessarily with a distinction that sets them apart from that disparate treatment.…”