VETERANS' DATA LEAK

On May 22, 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the names, Social Security numbers, disability ratings, and dates of birth of up to 26.5 million veterans was stolen from a VA worker after he took the data home.

Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and the VA Inspector General’s office, have launched full-scale investigations into this matter.

The VA is working to help ensure that affected veterans and their families are aware of the situation and of the steps they may take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information.  The VA has stated it will send out individual notification letters to affected veterans to every extent possible.

The VA has issued answers to FAQs for veterans.  Additionally, veterans can go to www.firstgov.gov or call 1-800-FED INFO (333-4636) for more information. 

In Congress, I am fighting to ensure that no veteran's private information is used for identity theft.  I have cosponsored H.R. 5455, the Veterans Identity Protection Act of 2006, which (1) provides veterans with one year of free credit monitoring to alert them of changes in their credit to stop theft before it gets out of control and (2) provides veterans with one free credit report each year - in addition to the free credit report available under the Fair Credit Reporting Act - after the end of credit monitoring.  During my time in Congress I will continue to support this bill and other legislation that will protect our veterans and I will work to ensure that such a leak never happens again.