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HD Advocacy
The Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA)
ALERT: GINA (Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act) Update!
As mentioned in the rest of our article about the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act, the 2007 version of the GINA bill has passed in the House of Representative with an overwhelming vote of 240-3. While it appeared that the bill would similarly breeze through the Senate to become law (given that it already has President Bush's pledge of support), it was single-handedly stalled in August by Senator Tom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma. Senator Coburn has put a “hold” on the bill, which prevents it from being voted on in the Senate, claiming that he wants to make a number of changes to make the bill more precise. Specifically, he wants to make changes that would make it harder to sue employers for genetic discrimination in some cases, and he also says that the bill's definition of genetic “tests” isn't precise or consistent enough.
This isn't the first time that Senator Coburn has used this tactic- he currently has holds on 86 other bills that would otherwise pass through the Senate. In fact, in 2005, the Senator voted for an earlier, different version of GINA that passed unanimously in the Senate at the time, but with the knowledge that the House of Representatives would refuse to bring the 2005 bill to a vote at that time. Now, with Democrats holding both the House and the Senate, he is the only member of Congress standing in the way of passing the newer, 2007, version of the bill. While Senator Colburn claims that he supports the idea behind the GINA, and is simply putting a hold on it to work out various details, a number of advocates assert that he is just creating excuses to kill the GINA bill, by creating a version of it that other Senators would turn against.
It is once again time for members of the HD community to make themselves heard. It is important that the GINA be passed, and Senator Coburn should not be allowed to single-handedly kill this essential piece of legislation.
It is very important that you let your Senators know that you strongly support this bill so that they will continue to work on it, and not give in to Senator Coburn's demands. At the end of this section is a series of form letters that you can use and personalize to send to members of Congress on your own. Please be assured that letters and phone calls do matter - for every letter or call that a Congressman or woman receives on an issue, they assume that there are at least 100 other constituents out there that care similarly about the issue.
If you would like to contact your own Congressional representative to make it clear that this is an especially important issue to you as a member of the HD community and as a constituent, please click here to find how to contact them directly.
Additionally, because so much of this is resting on Senator Coburn, if you are a resident of Oklahoma, please call, fax, or write his office to let him know that you do not support his hold on this bill. He is campaigning for re-election in 2010, and so keeping the support of his constituents will be very important for him.
Contact information for Senator Coburn is as follows:
1. Washington D.C. Office
172 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5754 (phone)
202-224-6008 (fax)
2. Oklahoma City Office
100 North Broadway
Suite1820
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
Phone: 405-231-4941
Fax: 405-231-5051
3. Tulsa Office
3310 Mid-Continent Tower
401 South Boston
Tulsa, OK 74103
Phone: 918-581-7651
Fax: 918-581-7195
4. Lawton Office
711 SW D Avenue
Suite 202
Lawton, OK 73501
Phone: 580-357-9878
Fax: 580-355-3560
Finally, Senators Kennedy (D-MA), Enzi (R-WY), and Snowe (R-ME) have been the primary sponsors of the GINA in the Senate. Please contact them, thanking them for their leadership on this issue, and making it clear that as a member of the HD community, this is an important issue to you. You can contact them at:
Senator Kennedy
Mail: 317 Russell Senate Building Washington D.C. 20510
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