I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5464 

To improve information security for veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 24, 2006 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself, Mr. SIMMONS, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. 

MCCOTTER, Mr. PICKERING, Mr. CARTER, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. 

BOUSTANY, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. FOLEY, Mr. MACK, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. 

WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. CHOCOLA, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Ms. 

HARRIS, Mrs. BONO, Mrs. MUSGRAVE, Mr. WAMP, Mr. GINGREY, Mr. 

DOOLITTLE, Mr. GOODE, Mr. PRICE of Georgia, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. JONES

of North Carolina, Mr. POE, and Mr. ISSA) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To improve information security for veterans, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Identity Pro5 tection Act’’. 


dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
2 

•HR 5464 IH

1 SEC. 2. REQUIRED AVAILABILITY OF FREE CREDIT RE2 PORTS AND CREDIT MONITORING TO VET3 ERANS. 

4 (a) REQUIRED NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 60 

5 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec6 retary of Veterans Affairs shall provide to each veteran 

7 described in subsection (b) a notice in writing. The notice 

8 shall— 

9 (1) inform the veteran that information about 

10 the veteran was included in the data of the Depart11 ment of Veterans Affairs that was stolen from the 

12 home of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee 

13 around May 22, 2006; 

14 (2) inform the veteran of the nature of the 

15 breach of confidentiality of personal records that are 

16 held by the Department of Veterans Affairs, as re17 quired by section 5901 of title 38, United States 

18 Code; and 

19 (3) inform the veteran that the veteran (using 

20 the form provided pursuant to subsection (c)) may 

21 request a free credit report once every three months 

22 for the next year and free monitoring of the vet23 eran’s credit report for the next year. 

24 (b) COVERED VETERANS.—Veterans described in this 

25 subsection are the veterans whose names or other personal 

26 identifying information were part in the data of the DeVerDate Aug 31 2005 21:14 May 31, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5464.IH H5464

dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
3 

•HR 5464 IH

1 partment of Veterans Affairs that was stolen from the 

2 home of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee 

3 around May 22, 2006. 

4 (c) ELECTION FORM FOR FREE CREDIT REPORTS

5 AND CREDIT MONITORING.—The Secretary shall include 

6 with each notification under subsection (a) a form (with 

7 a postage-paid return envelope) by which the veteran re8 ceiving the notification may request a free credit report 

9 once every three months for the next year and free moni10 toring of the veteran’s credit report for the next year. 

11 (d) AGREEMENTS WITH CREDIT REPORTING AGEN12 CIES.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into 

13 discussions with the three principal credit reporting agen14 cies and conclude such agreements as necessary in order 

15 to implement elections made by veterans pursuant to sub16 section (c). Any such agreement may include provisions 

17 for the Secretary to pay the expenses of such a credit re18 porting agency for compliance with such elections. 

19 SEC. 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF INFORMATION SECURITY IM20 PROVEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS. 

21 (a) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans Af22 fairs shall, as rapidly as feasible, fully implement each of 

23 the 16 Information Security improvements recommended 

24 to the Secretary by the Inspector General of the Depart25 ment of Veterans Affairs in the Inspector General’s report 


dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
4 

•HR 5464 IH

1 on the March 2005 audit of the Department of Veterans 

2 Affairs Information Security Program. 

3 (b) PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO IMPLEMENT.— 

4 (1) FISCAL YEAR 2007.—If as of January 1, 

5 2007, each of the Information Security improve6 ments referred to in subsection (a) is not fully im7 plemented, then effective as of that date, the amount 

8 of funds that may be obligated during fiscal year 

9 2007 for activities of the Office of the Secretary, 

10 within funds available for that fiscal year for Gen11 eral Operating Expenses for the Department of Vet12 erans Affairs, may not exceed 90 percent of the 

13 amount otherwise specified as available for such ac14 tivities. 

15 (2) SUBSEQUENT FISCAL YEARS.—In any fiscal 

16 year after fiscal year 2007 for which, as of January 

17 1 of that fiscal year, each of the Information Secu18 rity improvements referred to in subsection (a) is 

19 not fully implemented, then effective as of that date, 

20 the amount of funds that may be obligated during 

21 that fiscal year for activities of the Office of the Sec22 retary, within funds available for that fiscal year for 

23 General Operating Expenses for the Department of 

24 Veterans Affairs, may not exceed the percentage of 

25 the amount otherwise specified as available for such 


dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with BILLS
5 

•HR 5464 IH

1 activities that is the percentage applicable under this 

2 subsection for the preceding fiscal year reduced by 

3 10 percentage points. 

Æ 


dsatterwhite on PROD1PC76 with BILLS