H.R. 5835, The Veterans Identity and Credit Security Act of 2006

• This item is from the 109th Congress (2005-2006) and is no longer current. Comments, voting, and wiki editing have been disabled, and the cost/savings estimate has been frozen.

H.R. 5835 would create a new Office of the Under Secretary for Information Services within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bill also would require VA to notify affected individuals when sensitive, personal information held by VA is lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised. Additionally, if the Secretary of VA determines there is a risk that the compromised information could be used in a criminal manner, VA would be required to provide services to alleviate any loss those individuals might suffer. Furthermore, H.R. 5835 would require contractors to pay damages to VA if the compromised information was under the contractors’ control and would allow VA to spend those receipts without further appropriation action. Finally, the bill would allow VA to provide scholarships and pay school debts for individuals pursuing a doctoral degree in computer science or related fields who agree to work for VA.