Posted on 01/10/2014 11:49:48 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Dozens of House Democrats broke ranks with President Obama on Friday to support legislation that would require people to be notified of security breaches under ObamaCare.
The House passed the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act, H.R. 3811, in a 291-122 vote. Sixty-seven Democrats voted for the bill, ignoring arguments from party leaders that the bill was a "messaging" vote meant to discourage people from signing up for insurance.
The one-sentence bill says that no later than two business days after any security breach on an ObamaCare site is discovered, "the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide notice of such breach to each individual." Republicans said that under current law, the government is not required to notify people if their information is put at risk.
"It may shock some people to learn that there is no legal requirement that the Department of Health and Human Services notify an individual if his or her personal information is breached or improperly accessed through the Affordable Care Act's exchanges," said Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.).
The White House said it opposed the bill, arguing the government already has plans to tell people if their information has been compromised.
But that argument didn't sway a large group House Democrats, many of whom fear the problem-plagued rollout of ObamaCare will cost them at the polls in November.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said the new requirement is critical because a senior official at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advised in September that the site should not be launched due to security problems. Teresa Fryer, the Chief Information Security Officer at CMS, testified before Issa's committee late last year.
"The truth is that actual interviews and depositions taken of the highest-ranking people that helped develop this website, both public and private, shows there was no end-to-end testing," Issa said Friday. "It did not meet the spirit of any definition of a secure website."
Democrats rejected those arguments, and said Republicans were not explaining Fryer's complete views on the security of HealthCare.gov.
"All week, Republicans have been trying to make their case for this bill by quoting from a memo drafted by the chief information security officer at CMS about concerns before the website was launched," said Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the top Democrat on Issa's committee. "But they omit one critical fact: this official never sent the memo. It was a draft, and she never gave it to anyone, including her own supervisor."
Democrats said the GOP was trying to stir up fears about HealthCare.gov and the other enrollment sites by raising the idea that people's personal information could be stolen.
"There have been no successful security attacks on HealthCare.gov, and no one has maliciously accessed personal information," said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). "This is just another one of those scare tactics, and I just hope that my colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, are not fooled by this."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) fired back at the charge that the bill is for “messaging purposes,” noting that it simply requires officials to tell people when a data breach occurs.
"That's it," Cantor said. "There's no message in there, this is just trying to help people."
The White House, meanwhile, claimed the legislation would create costly new reporting requirements.
"The administration opposes House passage of H.R. 3811 because it would create unrealistic and costly paperwork requirements that do not improve the safety or security of personally-identifiable information in the Health Insurance Marketplaces," the White House said in a policy statement.
"Unlike existing requirements, H.R. 3811 requires expensive and unnecessary notification for the compromise of publicly-available information, even if there is no reasonable risk that information could be used to cause harm."
The White House stopped short of issuing a veto threat against the bill, but Senate Democrats are unlikely to take it up.
That’ll help the Dems in 2014 I’m sure. They’re in favor of identity fraud.
Pffft! Most security breaches in systems of this size can go undetected for several days. Also, considering most large-scale security breaches happen from the inside, the likelihood of large-scale, long-term fraud from this government agency is unimaginable.
This bill is much ado about nothing.
Reid has sooo much up there now he may explode soon
Anyone taking bets that BO’s surrogates will soon be talking with Kim Jong Un’s surrogates about training his persuasive pack of dogs to keep members of the party in line?
Of course it is.
The Republicans are taking a page out of the Democrat play book. Write a bill that sounds all warm and fuzzy and dare the Republicans to oppose it.
Then in the next election there will be a number of hit pieces on the incumbent claiming he (or she) hates kids, kittens, puppies, butterflies and so on.)
Obamacare is such a mess perhaps they don’t need to do this, on the other hand, it keeps the message on the fail Obamacare system, and how dangerous it is to give them your private information.
So, 67 Democrats are peeing in their pants. Now we know where to focus the campaign money.
Even it if did get through Dingy Harry, does ANYONE believe the criminal enterprise in the Spite House would COMPLY WITH IT???
And if they did not, does anyone think the spineless cretins at the other end of the Mall would ACTUALLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT???
Reid can just decide not to take up anything from the House, yet Boehner feels obligated to address immigration reform. Is it any wonder that most of us are fed up with the weak GOP Congressional leadership? Reid has already used the nuclear option to get appointments thru the Senate. McConnell and company just accept it with a whimper.
A Brilliant Prophecy From 93 Years Ago
H. L. Mencken (born 1880 - died 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic, and Democrat . He wrote this editorial while working for the Baltimore Evening Sun, which appeared in the July 26, 1920 edition.
“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.”
- - - H. L. Mencken, The Baltimore Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
So it was written and so it has come to pass.
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