[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 159 (Wednesday, October 1, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S10304]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      PRIVACY PROTECTIONS--S. 2321

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to announce that, today, after 
several discussions, the Bush administration and lead sponsors of the 
E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2008, S. 2321, have accepted an 
amendment I have drafted to ensure that Americans' privacy comes first 
when the Government purchases and uses their most sensitive personal 
information. My amendment requires that Federal agencies must conduct 
privacy impact assessments before employing outside contractors that 
use and market Americans' sensitive personal data.
  The addition of privacy protections to the E-Government 
Reauthorization Act will help to better protect all Americans from the 
growing threats of data breaches, identity theft, and other cyber 
crimes. I am particularly pleased about the compromise reached today 
because I am a proud supporter of this bill. In 2002, I was an original 
cosponsor of E-Government Act, and in the intervening years, I have 
worked to promote and strengthen this law.
  The E-Government Reauthorization Act is a good bill that will now be 
even better because of the privacy protections added by my amendment. 
Recently, the Government Accountability Office released a report on 
lessons learned about the Government data breaches at the Veterans' 
Administration and elsewhere. That report found that Government 
contractor responsibilities for preventing and responding to data 
breaches should be clearly defined. My amendment takes a small but 
important step toward addressing the growing problem of lax data 
security by Government contractors by making sure that Americans' 
privacy rights are not compromised when they entrust their sensitive 
personal information to our Government.
  I thank the lead sponsors of this bill for working with me on 
compromise privacy language for this bill. I also thank the many 
stakeholders who support this bill and my privacy amendment, including 
the Center for Democracy and Technology, Symantec, and the Cyber 
Security Industry Alliance.
  I urge all Senators to support and pass this important legislation.

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