[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10981]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   LEAK OF SENSITIVE PERSONAL INFORMATION AT DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
                                AFFAIRS

  (Mr. SALAZAR asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SALAZAR. Mr. Speaker, the leak of the sensitive personal 
information of millions of veterans and active duty military personnel 
by the Department of Veterans Affairs is a disgrace.
  The information, including Social Security numbers, dates of birth 
and disability was taken from the VA to an employee's home via his 
laptop. When the laptop was stolen from his residence, the private, 
sensitive information of more than 26 million veterans and active duty 
troops were stolen with it, making them all potential targets for 
identity theft.
  No employee of the Federal Government should have the ability to walk 
out of their office with that amount of personnel data on their 
computer. The administration needs to make sure that something like 
this never happens again.
  The VA must also work with Congress to provide assistance to the 
millions of victims of this leak without affecting veterans' benefits. 
Veterans should have the resources made available to them free of 
charge to monitor their credit reports for suspicious action.
  If any of our veterans or troops become victims of identity theft 
because of the security breach, they should not be held responsible. 
After all, it was by no act of their own that their personal 
information was compromised.
  Last night, I introduced H.R. 5588, a bill that would ensure the 
veterans are protected in case of their stolen identity.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.

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