[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 166 (Monday, November 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S7866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2788. Ms. COLLINS submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
to amendment SA 2763 proposed by Mr. Kirk (for himself, Mr. Tester, and 
Ms. Mikulski) to the bill H.R. 2029, making appropriations for military 
construction, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and related agencies 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016, and for other purposes; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of title II, add the following:

     SEC. 247. REPORT ON USE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS BY 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

       (a) Report Required.--Not later than 120 days after the 
     date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress a report on the use of social security numbers by 
     the Department of Veterans Affairs and the plans of the 
     Secretary to discontinue the unnecessary use.
       (b) Contents.--The report required by subsection (a) shall 
     include the following:
       (1) A list of documents and records of the Department of 
     Veterans Affairs that contain social security numbers.
       (2) A list of all government and non-government entities 
     and the numbers of their employees that have access to the 
     social security numbers of veterans that are stored by the 
     Department.
       (3) A description of how the Department, other governmental 
     entities, and persons use social security numbers they obtain 
     from the Department, including a description of any 
     information sharing arrangements that the Secretary may have 
     with the heads of other governmental entities.
       (4) The number of data breaches of Department of Veterans 
     Affairs information systems that involved social security 
     numbers that occurred during the five-year period ending on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act that the Secretary 
     discovered or that were reported to the Secretary, a 
     description and status of the investigations conducted by the 
     Secretary regarding such breaches, and a description of the 
     plans of the Secretary to remediate such breaches.
       (5) The plans of the Secretary, including a timeline, to 
     discontinue the unnecessary use by the Department of social 
     security numbers.
       (c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this 
     section, the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' 
     means--
       (1) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the Senate; and
       (2) the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on 
     Appropriations of the House of Representatives.
                                 ______