National "DNA Warehouse" bill passes; Americans citizens to become unwilling subjects of genetic research

Minneapolis/Saint Paul - Yesterday, in a voice vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to authorize the creation of a national DNA warehouse and broad-scale genetic research on the American public. S.1858, passed by the U.S. Senate last December, has been sent to the President for signing.

Twila Brase, president of CCHC makes the following statements:

"We are asking President Bush to veto this unethical, immoral, and unconstitutional bill. Congress has voted to strip citizens of genetic privacy rights and DNA property rights. The bill also violates research ethics and the Nuremberg Code.

"Soon, under this bill, the DNA of all citizens will be housed in government genomic biobanks and considered government property for government research. The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research.

"The public is clueless. S. 1858 imposes a federal agenda of DNA databanking and population-wide genetic research. It does not require consent and there are no requirements to fully inform parents about the warehousing of their child's DNA for the purpose of genetic research. Already, in Minnesota, the state health department reports that 42,210 children of the 780,000 whose DNA is housed in the Minnesota "DNA warehouse" have been subjected to genetic research without their parent's knowledge or consent.

"President Bush should not sign this bill."

Twila Brase is president of Citizens' Council on Health Care. She can be reached at 651-646-8935 office.