Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

quote:

President Bush last week signed into law a bill which will see the federal government begin to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. within six months, a move critics have described as the first step towards the establishment of a national DNA database. Described as a "national contingency plan" the justification for the new law S. 1858, known as The Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act of 2007, is that it represents preparation for any sort of "public health emergency." The bill states that the federal government should "continue to carry out, coordinate, and expand research in newborn screening" and "maintain a central clearinghouse of current information on newborn screening... ensuring that the clearinghouse is available on the Internet and is updated at least quarterly". Sections of the bill also make it clear that DNA may be used in genetic experiments and tests.

Here's some more info... [URL]http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1858[/URL] Thoughts???

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

big brother imo.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

makes you wonder why the hell he vetoed stem cell research...

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

here is a good read, important parts highlighted [quote]Feds to collect DNA from every person they arrest April 16, 2008 - 7:39pm By EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The government plans to begin collecting DNA samples from [b]anyone arrested(not convicted,but arrested)[/b] by a federal law enforcement agency _ a move intended to prevent violent crime but which also is raising concerns about the privacy of innocent people. Using authority granted by Congress, [b]the government also plans to collect DNA samples from foreigners who are detained, whether they have been charged or not.[/b] The DNA would be collected through a cheek swab, Justice Department spokesman Erik Ablin said Wednesday. [b]That would be a departure from current practice, which limits DNA collection to convicted felons.[/b] Expanding the DNA database, known as CODIS, raises civil liberties questions about the potential for misuse of such personal information, such as family ties and genetic conditions. Ablin said the DNA collection would be subject to the same privacy laws applied to current DNA sampling. [b]That means none of it would be used for identifying genetic traits, diseases or disorders.[/b] [b]Congress gave the Justice Department the authority to expand DNA collection in two different laws passed in 2005 and 2006.[/b] There are dozens of federal law enforcement agencies, ranging from the FBI to the Library of Congress Police. The federal government estimates it makes about 140,000 arrests each year. Justice officials estimate the new collecting requirements would add DNA from an additional 1.2 million people to the database each year. Those who support the expanded collection believe that DNA sampling could get violent criminals off the streets and prevent them from committing more crimes. A Chicago study in 2005 found that 53 murders and rapes could have been prevented if a DNA sample had been collected upon arrest. "Many innocent lives could have been saved had the government began this kind of DNA sampling in the 1990s when the technology to do so first became available," Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said. Kyl sponsored the 2005 law that gave the Justice Department this authority. Thirteen states have similar laws: Alaska, Arizona, California, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The new regulation would mean that the federal government could store DNA samples of people who are not guilty of any crime, said Jesselyn McCurdy, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. "Now innocent people's DNA will be put into this huge CODIS database, and it will be very difficult for them to get it out if they are not charged or convicted of a crime," McCurdy said. If a person is arrested but not convicted, he or she can ask the Justice Department to destroy the sample. The Homeland Security Department _ the federal agency charged with policing immigration _ supports the new rule. "DNA is a proven law-enforcement tool," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said. The rule would not allow for DNA samples to be collected from immigrants who are legally in the United States or those being processed for admission, unless the person was arrested. The proposed rule is being published in the Federal Register. That will be followed by a 30-day comment period. [URL]http://www.wtop.com/?sid=1388115&nid=116[/URL] [/quote]

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

Anyone that believes that Bush believes in the traditional Republican ideas of "small, unintrusive government" needs to get his/her head examined. Least republican "Republican" president ever.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

[quote=ddr;604862]big brother imo.[/quote]

this isn't your opinion. it's a fact. just like 2+2=4.

For once, i sit here at the typewriting, reflecting on the original post....at a loss of words.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

They have already screened all newborns for one disorder for many many years (PKU)- this is another step for screening for many other disorders. And there is no doubt it can save or improve lives of many people.

its such a complicated legal/medical/ethical issue -

clearly there are multiple other issues that the information could be used for and thats where it gets very complicated.

At least they put GINA through too - to (allegedly) stop insurance companies and employers from discriminating against people based on the genetic test results (they can of course work around that issue and base it on something else)

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

^^I understand that there is a lot of good that could come from harvesting everyone's DNA and maintaining a database of it. To me, though, the creepy component is just overwhelming...

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

the potential for abuse is unlimited.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

the ONLY way i could support such a move is if there was a private entreprise, a middle-man, who through government subsidy, paid willing volunteers. outside of this, it is not and should not be permitted.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

X Files comes to life, not to far off before the pages of Brave New World begin to turn.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

I warned you all a while back...you all called me a crazy conspiracy theorist...:Wacko:

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

there would have been hundreds of rapists murders etc put behind bars sooner if there was a DNA database.....just as kids we all got finger printed

we'll this will help in the future 20 years from now some punks rape a girl and get away well they got your jizz check the dna tester and boom shows who the person is

i think its great

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

[quote=sakio pod;610703]there would have been hundreds of rapists murders etc put behind bars sooner if there was a DNA database.....just as kids we all got finger printed

we'll this will help in the future 20 years from now some punks rape a girl and get away well they got your jizz check the dna tester and boom shows who the person is

i think its great[/quote]

You know what? Why not just lock everyone behind bars while we're at it? That way, nobody can ever commit a crime! And who doesn't want to eliminate crime?!

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

im all for collecting it from accused violent criminals, (yes, accused, not convicted, ppl get off on BS -- OJ-- scott peterson)

but this.... its just way too far. this is the shit from sci fi novels

unless they take it from minority kisd, cuz they all end up criminals anyway. :lol:

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

will there finally come a day when DNA will be abused like SS # are today in identity theft?

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

[quote=thesightless;610835]im all for collecting it from accused violent criminals, (yes, accused, not convicted, ppl get off on BS -- OJ-- scott peterson)

but this.... its just way too far. this is the shit from sci fi novels

unless they take it from minority kisd, cuz they all end up criminals anyway. :lol:[/quote]

scott peterson is on death row.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

My knee jerk reaction is disgust and horror, but I find myself wondering how it could be abused. Are we worried about cloning or something? C'mon, seriously. Because besides that, taking DNA for a criminal database is just one better than fingerprinting, which we don't bat an eye at. A DNA database has the potential to absolve innocent people. Don't we always hear of DNA evidence coming to light years after a crime and saving people from death row?

So, where's the problem? How could it be abused? If getting someone's DNA is as easy as a cheek swab, don't you think the gubment can already get it anyway? I think this would just make criminal searches more robust and accurate. We still have a legal system. Due process isn't going anywhere.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

[quote=ddr;604862]big brother imo.[/quote]

Another example of "big brother", this time sponsored by Barack Obama... [INDENT]Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) authored a bill (with 11 co-sponsors, [COLOR=red][B][U]including Sen. Barack Obama[/U][/B][/COLOR]) that was incorporated into a housing bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee 19-2 before the Memorial Day recess — a bill that creates a national fingerprint registry.

According to a [URL="http://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsReleases.View&ContentRecord_id=e61dcff7-69bd-4aed-99b7-53d4b8579b72&IsTextOnly=False"][B][COLOR=#000000]Martinez press release[/COLOR][/B][/URL], the language merely “create[s] national licensing and oversight standards for residential mortgage originators.”

One of the standards, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says, may “[URL="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26872"][B][COLOR=#000000]require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds.[/COLOR][/B][/URL]” This is a step in the wrong direction — at least for a nation that preserves freedom.

source: [URL]http://www.infowars.com/?p=2617[/URL] [/INDENT]

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

[QUOTE=k3n3;612208]Another example of "big brother", this time sponsored by Barack Obama... [INDENT]Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) authored a bill (with 11 co-sponsors, [COLOR=red][B][U]including Sen. Barack Obama[/U][/B][/COLOR]) that was incorporated into a housing bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee 19-2 before the Memorial Day recess — a bill that creates a national fingerprint registry.

According to a [URL="http://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsReleases.View&ContentRecord_id=e61dcff7-69bd-4aed-99b7-53d4b8579b72&IsTextOnly=False"][B][COLOR=#000000]Martinez press release[/COLOR][/B][/URL], the language merely “create[s] national licensing and oversight standards for residential mortgage originators.”

One of the standards, John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute says, may “[URL="http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=26872"][B][COLOR=#000000]require thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries — and not suspected of anything — to send their prints to the feds.[/COLOR][/B][/URL]” This is a step in the wrong direction — at least for a nation that preserves freedom.

source: [URL]http://www.infowars.com/?p=2617[/URL] [/INDENT][/QUOTE]

That sounds really sinister until you read the actual press release, as opposed to CEI/Human Events/Infowars interpretation of it, all of which are conservative think tanks (and as far as I can tell, just cite one another). As I read the bill, it provides for professional licenses for mortgage brokers similar to doctors, lawyers, etc. I can't speak for docs, but I know lawyers submit their fingerprints when they get licensed, to, you know, make sure there aren't felons practicing law. Is it an invasion of my privacy? Sure, but I understand that I'm in a position of trust, and that there is a rational reason for it.

It is not true, however, that everyone tangentially related to legal industry has to submit their prints, only the lawyers themselves. I have no idea where this dude got the idea that "thousands of individuals working even tangentially in the mortgage and real estate industries [would have] to send their prints to the feds," because neither the press release nor anything else I've read on it indicates that would happen, only the unsubstantiated musings of a guy who gets paid to press an agenda. Total straw man, IMO, unless you can point me to something showing this would actually be required.

Re: Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns' DNA

It was only a matter of time before this was to occur, it's just ironic that such opponents of the bio sciences have now decided to take advantage of the same technologies they have protested in other areas like stem cell research...

I personally don't care too much - maybe because I just don't understand why this could personally affect me. Give me a barcode and a camera in my house, I've got nothing to hide! Even if I did - would it be a big enough deal to catch the attention a government watching over 300 million people?