David Obey: “Mr. Chairman, I would simply say that on this side of the aisle we certainly accept the gentlewoman's amendment, and I…”

“Mr. Chairman, I would simply say that on this side of the aisle we certainly accept the gentlewoman's amendment, and I would like to talk just a moment about it because I have such a deep personal interest in the issue myself. I think often in the subcommittee a few years ago, when the human genome project just started to be funded, I was often misunderstood when I raised with NIH witnesses my concerns about the fact that science is getting ahead of the state of the law on the issue of genetics. It would be a tragedy if the billions of dollars which taxpayers are seeing invested on their behalf to discover the secrets of the human genetic makeup, if those dollars, instead of winding up producing a net good for the American people, wind up simply producing a greater ability for different powerful parties in this economy to discriminate on the basis of genes which individuals could not order beforehand but were stuck with after they were born. It seems to me that there has been a very slow reaction to this on the part of both the legal profession and on the part of good segments of the scientific community as well. I very much commend the gentlewoman for her efforts on this. I think it highlights probably the most important fundamental long-term issue associated with this bill, and we very enthusiastically support the amendment.”