FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington Contact: Robert Gibbs or Tommy Vietor, (202) 228-5511
Illinois Contact: Julian Green, (312) 886-3506
Date: May 22, 2006
Obama Statement on the Theft of 26.5 Million VA Records
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement on the theft of personal data on more than 26.5 million U.S. veterans from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs employee:
"It is unconscionable that this breach of trust occurred, and the federal government needs to do everything it can to make it right. In the short term, that means the FBI and law enforcement need to work quickly to try to secure these missing records, and the VA needs to move quickly with other agencies to protect veterans who may be victims of identity theft. Over the long term, we need to make sure that such a security breach never happens again in any agency that has access to these types of records."