Bi-Partisan Legislation to Secure Veterans’ Information

As the Democratic Leader of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, I am proud of the Committee Members who passed a strong bi-partisan bill on Thursday, July 20 which responds effectively to the cavalier manner in which veterans’ information has been secured, accessed, and passed around. This attitude in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) directly led to the May 3rd theft of the personal data of 26.5 million veterans and to other data breaches that have only recently been reported to the Committee. While the Committee cannot fully change the culture of the VA through mandate, we can affect that culture, instill more responsive policies and, hopefully, engender better management.