Chris Murphy: “I am in support of H.R. 5835 and commend the distinguished chairman for his hard work for veterans. We all know veterans…”

“I am in support of H.R. 5835 and commend the distinguished chairman for his hard work for veterans. We all know veterans deserve the best from the Federal Government following their service. Unfortunately, on two separate occasions there were some major breaches which raised the risk of identity theft and fraud. In May, the VA announced a laptop computer containing personal information of 26 million veterans and spouses had been stolen; and, in August, a desktop with personal and health information of 38,000 veterans was stolen from a subcontractor performing insurance collections for VA medical centers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. These losses are totally unacceptable. Identity theft touches the lives of more than 10 million Americans per year, and our veterans deserve better protection of their records. The bill before us would provide better protections, and these are important steps, and we should support the underlying bill. In addition to H.R. 5835, I introduced last week H.R. 6109, the Stop Endangering the Records of Veterans, or the SERV Act. This bill would require the VA to physically secure and encrypt all veterans' personal records held by the Department.”