NEWS RELEASE
Committee on Energy and Commerce Democrats
Congressman John D. Dingell, Ranking Member

DEMOCRATS REJECT WEAK DATA SECURITY BILL

Washington, DC - Democrats on the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection today voted against final passage of H.R. 4127, “The Data and Accountability Trust Act,” which they claimed would weaken existing State laws that protect consumers’ personal information. The bill passed on a party-line vote of 13-to-8.

“Since February 2005 and the news of the ChoicePoint scandal, nearly 51 million notices have gone out to consumers, letting them know that their personal information had somehow been compromised,” said Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. “Those notices would not have gone out had it not been for a strong California law that requires consumers to be contacted whenever there is unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that compromises the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information.”

“This bill is worse than the status quo and undermines what the States have worked so hard to achieve,” said Representative John D. Dingell, Ranking Member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Several Democratic amendments to strengthen the bill and provide clear standards were rejected:

MARKEY AMENDMENT

The Republican bill would allow companies that experience a data security breach to decide for themselves whether it presented, “a significant risk of identity theft,” and therefore was necessary to notify affected consumers about the breach. An amendment offered by Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) that would have removed the self-policing provision and replace it with a clear standard based on California State law was rejected by a party-line vote of 8-to-15.

SCHAKOWSKY AMENDMENT

The Republican bill would preempt existing State data security laws, regardless of whether the State law is stronger. Schakowsky offered an amendment to replace the preemption provision with language that would have applied a national standard without weakening stronger State laws. The amendment failed on a party-line vote of 8-to-14.

GREEN/BALDWIN AMENDMENT

The Republican bill provided the Federal Trade Commission with a mere $1 million for enforcement. An amendment offered by Representatives Gene Green (D-TX) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) that would have given State Attorneys General the authority to bring civil action on behalf of a state’s residents, similar to the authority it has to enforce the “Do Not Call” law. The amendment failed on a party-line vote of 9-to-14.

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