[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 108 (Monday, July 13, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1047]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE RECOVER ACT (REDUCING THE EFFECTS OF THE 
       CYBERATTACK ON OPM VICTIMS EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT OF 2015)

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 13, 2015

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise to introduce the Reducing the Effects 
of the Cyberattack on OPM Victims Emergency Response Act of 2015 (the 
RECOVER Act), a bill to require the Office of Personnel Management 
(OPM) to provide complimentary and comprehensive identity protection 
coverage to all individuals whose personally identifiable information 
was compromised during recent OPM data breaches. Senator Ben Cardin (D-
MD) has introduced the companion bill in the Senate. Yesterday, OPM 
reported that more than 21.5 million current and former federal 
employees have had their personal information compromised in a second 
OPM data breach, five times more than the 4.2 million already reported, 
for a grand total of 25.7 million federal employees and retirees. OPM 
said that the 21.5 million individuals whose background check records 
were compromised would receive only three years of credit monitoring 
and identity theft protection services and $1 million in loss coverage, 
while the other 4.2 million individuals whose personnel records were 
compromised would receive 18 months of credit monitoring and $1 million 
in loss coverage. In light of the scope of OPM's data breach and the 
limited protection that is proposed, I, along with my House colleagues 
Chris Van Hollen, Don Beyer, Donna Edwards, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, 
Elijah Cummings, Gerald Connolly, and John Delaney introduce a bill 
that would provide free lifetime identity theft protection coverage 
that includes identity theft insurance for losses up to $5 million. 
This protection is particularly necessary since the breach was 
discovered a year after hackers had already infiltrated OPM's system.
  OPM's proposed protection would not protect current and former 
federal workers if hackers simply waited for a period of years before 
exploiting the stolen identities. However, our bill would give current 
and former federal employees some peace of mind.
  The RECOVER Act is necessary to reduce the angst of our dedicated 
public servants resulting from this entire ordeal. OPM failed to 
protect our current and former federal employees. It follows that the 
government must do the right thing to make up for its mistake.

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