(Washington, DC, May 25, 2006) — Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen has joined her Democratic colleagues and cosponsored the “Veterans Identity Protection Act” (H.R. 5455), legislation aimed at helping veterans whose personal data was stolen from the home of a Veteran’s Administration employee earlier this month.

 “This is an unacceptable violation of veterans who have served in the Virgin Islands and across the country,” Christensen said.  “Our veterans deserve to have their personal and financial information protected.”

 “I have signed on to this bill which will address this egregious breach of privacy, along with calling for a full investigation into the matter,” Christensen said.  The legislation will protect veterans from identity theft by calling on the VA to:

• Provide veterans with one year of free credit monitoring – to alert them of changes in their credit in order to stop the theft before it gets out of control.
  
  
• Provide veterans with one free credit report each year for two years after the end of credit monitoring, in addition to the free credit report available under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
  
  
• Authorize $1.25 billion in emergency funds for the first year implementation.

“This legislation is in step with our pledge to leave no veteran behind,”
Christensen said. “It is in the same spirit as the New GI Bill of Rights that ensure that veterans and military retirees get the benefits they have earned and deserve.”