WASHINGTON (Reuters] – On Thursday, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined a host of organizations to urge Congress to approve “comprehensive Privacy Legislation” which would prohibit an overly complicated patchwork of state laws.

In a letter to Congress, the group stated that a national privacy law will be clear, fair and transparent for businesses and empower consumers. This will help America compete in the digital age.

Privacy proposals will cover online interactions. However, they can be more broad than tech and include financial services as well as other parts of the economy.

The letter was signed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business groups like Consumer Data Industry Association, Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association, TechNet, Software & Informational Industry Association, local affiliates of the chamber and others.

As a collective group of twenty organizations led by TechNet, including NetChoice, the Business Roundtable, and others, this letter from the Chamber is being made public. This will be part of a larger effort to promote privacy legislation.

It was more than three decades since California passed privacy legislation. This letter should have been expected to encourage Congress to pass federal legislation.

The letter stated that other states including Virginia and Colorado had passed similar legislation. The groups stated that these proposals could take very different approaches to enforcement and duties. This would make it extremely difficult for small businesses comply with the law.

The groups noted that even though the Federal Trade Commission had been considering tackling this issue, they said it would “add another layer to the state’s patchwork.”

Although many privacy bills have been proposed, it appears that the U.S. Congress is broadly in agreement about the necessity of some form of legislation. However, there are differences over how difficult it should be. Perhaps most important, however, is whether federal law should prevail over state privacy laws.