Leahy Welcomes VA Secretary’s Belated Decision
To Offer Free Credit Monitoring To Veterans
Whose Personal Data Was Stolen
WASHINGTON (Wednesday, June 21) –
Sen. Patrick Leahy Wednesday welcomed Veterans Affairs Secretary
James Nicholson’s decision to finally comply with earlier calls
by Leahy and others to offer free credit monitoring to veterans
whose personal data was stolen last month.
“This is the least that should be
done for the millions of veterans and military families whose
data was lost,” said Leahy. “It’s late, but it’s welcome, and
it’s the right thing to do. Secretary Nicholson has finally
come around on this, and if the VA follows through effectively
it will mean some relief for many veterans and their families
whose finances and credit could be in jeopardy.”
Nicholson Wednesday announced that
the Department of Veterans Affairs will provide one year of free
credit monitoring to veterans whose sensitive personal
information may have been stolen in the May incident, when
personal data of more than 26 million veterans and more than two
million active duty military personnel were breached when a VA
employee’s computer was stolen from his home.
Leahy, long a leader on privacy,
identity theft and data security issues, has been highly
critical of Nicholson’s oversight of data security at his
department and of his handling of the aftermath of the data
theft. After disclosure of the data breach, Leahy had suggested
that President Bush “take Secretary Nicholson to the woodshed”
to evaluate his effectiveness in leading an agency that he said
is so vitally important to the nation’s veterans. Leahy also
scored Nicholson last year when, despite mounting evidence to
the contrary, Nicholson repeatedly denied a funding shortfall
for VA health programs, only to later admit the shortfall,
forcing Congress to step in with a billion-dollar rescue
package.
The Department of Veterans Affairs
has posted information about the data theft and about
Wednesday’s credit counseling announcement at: www.firstgov.gov
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