New Bill Will Close Records to Genealogists
HR10, which was mentioned in the 13 October issue of RootsWeb Review,
has passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives and is now part of
S.2845. The amendments suggested by David Rencher in his letter to the
bill's sponsor, Congressman J. Dennis Hastert, were NOT incorporated
into this legislation. Thus, the terms of HR10 will now be considered by
the Senate, as part of S.2845.
If S.2845 becomes law, as now written, family historians will face some
real challenges in attempts to obtain birth records, even on long-
deceased individuals. Specifically, what genealogists need to do is
suggest to their lawmakers the addition of Sec. 3061(b)(1)(A)(iii) that
would change the wording to read: "who are alive on the date that access to their birth
certificate is requested."
This addition would clarify that the legislation (soon to be law)
applies ONLY to birth certificates of CURRENTLY LIVING PERSONS.
If you do not know your U.S. Senator's e-mail address, you can find
it
at http://www.senate.gov/
This bill can be found online at
http://thomas.loc.gov/
Put in S.2845 (in the bill number window) and then select item No.
3;
and go to Subtitle B--Identity Management Security; Chapter 2--Improved
Security for Birth Certificates.
