[House Document 109-124]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

109th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - - - House Document 109-124

 
         WITHDRAWAL FOR A REQUEST FOR FY 2006 BUDGET AMENDMENTS

                               __________

                             COMMUNICATION

                                  from

                        THE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF

                         MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET,

                 THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

                              TRANSMITTING

   WITHDRAWAL OF THE REQUEST FOR A FY 2006 FULLY OFFSET PROPOSAL TO 
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS ACCOUNT 
               WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS




July 18, 2006.--Referred to the Committee on Appropriations and ordered 
                             to be printed
                 Executive Office of the President,
                           Office of Management and Budget,
                                     Washington, DC, July 18, 2006.
Hon. J. Dennis Hastert,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Speaker: On June 28, 2006, the President asked the 
Congress to consider a fully offset FY 2006 request for $160.5 
million of additional funding for the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) to address the security of personally identifiable 
information of veterans and military service personnel.
    On May 3, 2006, a VA laptop and hard drive were stolen 
containing confidential information on personal records of 
certain veterans and service members. To mitigate the risk of 
the inappropriate use of this information, this request would 
have funded credit monitoring services for personnel impacted 
by this theft and security breach.
    Since the transmittal of the funding package, the stolen 
laptop and hard drive have been recovered and the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation's (FBI's) forensic examination of the 
equipment has been completed. The FBI has a high degree of 
confidence--based on the results of the forensic tests and 
other information gathered during the investigation--that the 
sensitive data files were not accessed or compromised.
    On the basis of the FBI's analysis, the Administration has 
concluded that credit monitoring services and the associated 
funding will no longer be necessary. Therefore, on behalf of 
the President, I am withdrawing this funding request and 
associated offset proposals from further Congressional 
consideration.
            Sincerely,
                                                       Rob Portman.

                                  
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