(Washington D.C.)- In response to the breach of 26.5 million personal records by the Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin (D- Royal Oak), Ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, today announced that he is cosponsoring the Veteran Identity Protection Act, H.R. 5455. This legislation, introduced by U.S. Rep. John T. Salazar of Colorado, aims to assist veterans whose personal data was stolen from the home of a VA employee earlier this month.

"The federal government is supposed to be leading the effort to prevent identity theft, not contributing to the problem. Millions of American veterans' financial lives are at risk because of the Administration's incompetence," claimed U.S. Rep. Levin. "We need to take action immediately to help veterans protect themselves if, indeed, the lost data has fallen into the wrong hands."

Specifically, the legislation that U.S. Rep. Levin is cosponsoring will:
-- Provide one year of free credit monitoring to affected individuals.
-- Provide one year free credit report each year for two years after the end of credit monitoring, in addition to the free credit report available under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In addition, Levin signed a letter to Secretary James Nicholson of the Department of Veterans Affairs expressing outrage over the handling of the loss of 26.5 million veterans' personal information. The letter calls on the Veterans Affairs Department to fully explain the delays and lapses in judgment, and the course of action to taken to correct these actions.
 
It was recently reported that the personal information of 26.5 million veterans, including their Social Security Numbers, was stolen from the home of a VA employee who improperly took the information home. The Department of Veterans Affairs waited two weeks to notify the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, losing valuable time to commence recovery efforts and perhaps losing important leads in the investigation. Veterans were not notified that their personal information was compromised until nearly three weeks after the theft occurred.

Veterans should be aware that identify theft could result over this incident and are encouraged to monitor their bank accounts and credit reports.

Below is the copy of the Letter sent to Secretary Nicholson:

Honorable R. James Nicholson
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
810 Vermont Ave., NW (00)
Washington, DC  20420

June 5, 2006

Dear Secretary Nicholson:

            We write today to express our outrage about how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) handled the loss of 26.5 million veterans' personal data on May 3, 2006.   On Monday, May 22, 2006, the VA finally revealed the theft of veterans' names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers from the home of a VA employee who was not authorized to possess the data outside of his office. 

Media reports indicate the VA waited TWO WEEKS to notify the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the May 3, 2006 theft.  Even more inexcusable, the victims of this crime, our veterans, were not notified for 19 DAYS- almost three weeks- that this theft occurred.  When it comes to the largest loss of personal data in U.S. government history, and perhaps what may be the second largest theft of personal data in U.S. history, it is unconscionable that the VA did not immediately notify the DOJ and the FBI.  It is simply unfathomable the VA did not move as aggressively as possible to recover the stolen data.  Surely, notifying the DOJ and FBI would be the obvious first step in any effort to track down the stolen information.  This two-week delay has almost certainly hampered DOJ and FBI efforts and we will never know what leads or clues might have been discovered had federal law enforcement officials been contacted immediately.

Moreover, for 19 days our veterans were left totally exposed, unaware that their personal information had been compromised.  Veterans were vulnerable to identity theft for almost three weeks, unable to take the necessary steps to protect themselves.  In light of the severity of identity theft and the difficulty in correcting the problems associated with it, every day matters.  The VA has done an enormous disservice to our veterans by not notifying them once the VA knew that their personal data had been compromised.

We demand the VA fully explain the aforementioned delays and lapses in judgment.  The VA needs to clarify immediately what remedial actions are underway and what steps are being taken to avoid another similar disclosure in the future.  The VA must both fully account to Congress, veterans, and the American people, how this awful failure occurred, and ensure it never happens again.  We thank you in advance for your prompt reply to our concerns.

                                                            Sincerely,

/s by U.S. Rep. Levin and 36 of his House Collegues 

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