[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 116 (Thursday, July 11, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    INTRODUCTION OF THE RECOVER ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 11, 2019

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Reducing the 
Effects of the Cyberattack on OPM Victims Emergency Response Act of 
2019 (the RECOVER Act), which would require the Office of Personnel 
Management (OPM) to make permanent the free identity protection 
coverage that Congress required OPM to provide for 10 years to 
individuals whose Social Security Numbers were potentially compromised 
during the OPM data breaches. In 2015, OPM reported that the personally 
identifiable information of as many as 25.7 million current, former and 
prospective federal employees and contractors was stolen in two data 
breaches. I appreciate that Representative C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is 
co-leading on this bill.
  After OPM announced that it would offer identity protection coverage 
of limited duration and value, Senator Ben Cardin and I introduced the 
RECOVER Act in July 2015, which would have provided affected 
individuals lifetime protection and at least $5 million in identity 
theft insurance. Congress subsequently included a version of our bill 
in an enacted appropriations bill, but limited the duration of the 
protection. Under current law, OPM is only required to provide identity 
protection coverage through fiscal year 2026. Under the bill we are 
introducing today, OPM would be required to provide coverage for the 
remainder of the lives of affected individuals.
  The current coverage is inadequate, particularly considering that 
there is no limit to when the thieves (or those they have shared the 
stolen data with) may exploit the data. Therefore, there should be no 
limit on the duration of the coverage provided to affected individuals. 
This bill would give current, former and prospective federal employees 
and contractors who were affected both some peace of mind and 
protection. OPM failed to protect these people. It follows that the 
government must do the right thing to make up for its mistake.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.

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