Political Quotes

“today, the Congress considers critical legislation to renew America's promise of prosperity and security for all of its citizens. I am pleased that the greatly needed relief provided in the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act includes an investment in health information technology that takes meaningful steps to protect the privacy of all Americans. I have long held the view that American innovation can--and should-- play a vital role in revitalizing our economy and in improving our Nation's health care system. That is why I have worked so hard with the lead sponsors of this bill to makes sure that privacy was addressed at the outset, as our Nation moves towards a national health information technology system. I commend the lead sponsors of this legislation in the House and Senate, Majority Leader Reid, and Speaker Pelosi for making sure that the economic recovery package includes meaningful privacy safeguards for electronic health records. I also commend the many stakeholders, including, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc., Consumers Union, the American Civil Liberties Union and Microsoft, that have advocated tirelessly for meaningful health IT privacy protections in this legislation. The privacy protections in this legislation are essential to a successful national health IT system.”