Veterans Identity and Credit Security Act of 2006
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Veterans Identity and Credit Security Act of 2006 - (Sec. 2) Requires: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish policies and standards for federal agencies to follow in the event of a breach of data security involving the disclosure of sensitive personal information (SPI) for which harm to an individual could reasonably be expected to result; (2) the head of each federal agency to delegate to that agency's Chief Information Officer the authority to develop and maintain an inventory of all employee personal computers, laptops, or other hardware containing SPI; (3) each federal agency to establish procedures for notifying individuals whose SPI is compromised; and (4) each agency's Chief Human Capital Officer to prescribe policies and procedures for exit interviews of employees, including an accounting of federal property that was assigned to the employee.
(Sec. 3) Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA): (1) an Under Secretary for Information Services, who shall also serve as the VA's Chief Information Officer; and (2) three Deputy Under Secretaries.
(Sec. 4) Outlines responsibilities of the VA's Chief Information Officer with respect to personal information security management. Requires an annual report from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to specified congressional committees on VA compliance with federal information security requirements. Directs the VA's Chief Information Officer to report: (1) at least monthly to the Secretary any deficiency with such compliance; and (2) immediately any significant compliance deficiency or any data breach. Requires the Secretary, upon notification of a data breach, to notify the OMB Director, the VA Inspector General, and, if appropriate, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Secret Service.
Directs the Secretary, at the time of each annual budget submission, to report to Congress on amounts requested by the VA for implementation and remediation of, and compliance with, federal personal information security requirements. Requires the Secretary to: (1) report quarterly to the veterans' committees on any SPI data breach during the previous quarter; and (2) notify such committees of significant data breaches.
The summary continues for 9 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on September 26, 2006. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 13, 2006: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 109th Congress (2005-06), 482 of the 10,701 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.5 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
STEPHEN BUYER (R-IN) introduced it on July 19, 2006, and 66 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 32 Democrats, 34 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 19, 2006, 7359 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7242 days ago, on November 13, 2006.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 109th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2007 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers