Remember the GOP, the party of “Let’s get government out of your healthcare decisions”? If you thought Republican commitment to your personal freedom, choice, and privacy would stand guard also against corporate intrusions, Republicans would like to advise you not to get carried away.  

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 prohibits “the use of genetic information in health insurance and employment.”  Republicans have found a way to fix that.  They have a new bill that allows businesses “to require employees to undergo genetic testing” and to “let employers see that genetic and other health information.”    

H.R.1313 was introduced by Representative Virginia Foxx of – where else – North Carolina.  In the up-is-down, black-is-white, purposely disorienting language of Republicans, the bill is titled the “Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act.”  

As the bill says, “Congress has a strong tradition of protecting and preserving employee workplace wellness programs ….”  What the bill doesn’t say is that preserving employee wellness programs is different from preserving employee wellness – or employee rights.  

H.R.1313 declares that the 2008 Nondiscrimination Act and other protections “do not apply when genetic tests are part of a “workplace wellness” program.”      

The bill and it’s intended consequences have been covered in detail sufficient to properly terrify you at numerous outlets: Kerry Eleveld here at DKos, Charles P. Pierce at Esquire, Nicholas Bagley at The Incidental Economist, the NYT, the Washington Post, and Vocativ for a few.  

With Heart of Darkness in the presidency and the Anti-Democracy Party controlling both houses of Congress, there is little we can do but rage.  Recent events, though, suggest that rage is not impotent.  

I suggest a letter-writing campaign (or e-mail or telephone, depending which part of the NSA you wish to have review your input) along the lines of this example to my own, Honorable Representative, with a copy to Ms. Virginia Foxx.  

Dear Mr. Issa:  

To correct deficiencies in H.R.1313, the “Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act,” I request that you, an employee of the citizens of California's 49th congressional district, offer an amendment requiring genetic testing of members of Congress, and of their families, with the results to be sent to their constituents.  My hope is that, during debate of this amendment, Congress will find a way to preserve employee rights and liberties as well as wellness.  

Thank You.

For those who wish to be more aggressive or just abusive, feel free, especially if you live in North Carolina.  

For those who wish to call their member of Congress, phone numbers can be found here.  

For those who wish to use e-mail, use the link above and click on your member’s name to reach their web page and e-mail.  (Virginia Foxx, an example we all should keep in mind, is at http://foxx.house.gov/contact/.)  

For those who wish to use snail-mail, how to address both the letter and the member can be found here.

For those who are thankful that I have not attempted word-play on “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf/Foxx,” you’re welcome.