The delay ostensibly is to allow further discussion. But it makes no sense. The rules have been debated in Washington for nearly 10 years. The Secretary's decision was unfortunate. There are no acceptable excuses for their delay.
Consumers deserve to have their personally identifiable information protected from prying eyes.
I promised the people of my State in the course of the last 6 to 8 months of the discussion in the course of the campaign that I would make protecting their privacy one of my top priorities, because too often these days, personally identifiable medical and financial information is being shared, bought, or sold, and it is being done without the consent of the consumer. This practice must stop. It is our job to pass legislation that will stop it. Today, I am going to be introducing two bills that begin to address aspects of the privacy crisis. Both bills build upon the undeniable principle that information gathered for one purpose should never be disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for another purpose without the consumer's consent.