Pryor, Rockefeller Introduce Legislation to Protect Consumers’ Personal Information and Prevent Identity Theft

WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senators Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) today reintroduced legislation to require businesses and nonprofit organizations that store consumers’ personal information to put in place strong security features to safeguard sensitive data, alert consumers when this data has been breached, and provide affected individuals with the tools they need to protect their credit and finances. Currently, there is no single federal standard for guarding many types of consumer information.

Chairman Rockefeller Continues Push to Eliminate Waste, Fraud and Abuse in Government Programs

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV wrote the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Inspector General, Alison Lerner, on the importance of protecting taxpayer dollars from misuse. On Thursday, Inspector General Lerner is hosting a workshop to discuss preventing fraud in one of the federal government’s most important advanced technology initiatives, the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Houston Chronicle Op-ed – Let’s Give First Responders Tools Needed to Save Lives

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV and Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison today authored an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle on the urgent need to provide America’s first responders with a nationwide wireless network to help them do their job. Rockefeller and Hutchison are leading the charge in the Senate to pass legislation, the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, which would create a nationwide, interoperable public safety broadband network recommended by the 9/11 Commission.

Sen. Hutchison Probes Top Transportation Security Officials on Threats to Rail Security

In a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) called for greater emphasis on rail security and pressed John Pistole, the Administrator of the Transportation Security Agency, as to whether sufficient resources were being made available to secure America’s rail system. After the recent killing of Osama Bin Laden, American intelligence officials have obtained information indicating Al Qaeda has considered possible attacks on U.S. rail systems.

Chairman Rockefeller Remarks on Emerging Threats to Rail Security

WASHINGTON, D.C.—When we talk about terrorist attacks on the United States, airplanes are the first image that comes to mind. Why? Because the horrors that took place in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon on 9/11 all involved deadly attacks involving planes. What we don’t hear much about is maintaining the security of our surface transportation system—specifically, our rail networks. Too often, this gets lost when we talk about security.

Rockefeller Bill Will Help Prevent Kids From Swallowing Hazardous Mini Batteries

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today introduced a bill to reduce the risk of injury or death to children from ingestion of button cell batteries. This common-sense bill would make it harder for children to access these tiny batteries by making battery compartments in consumer products more secure.

Statement of Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison on Commerce Committee Markup of S.911

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In opening remarks at an Executive Session of the Senate Commerce Committee, Ranking Member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) praised the bipartisan effort to send S.911, the Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act, to the full Senate for consideration.  Below are Senator Hutchison’s opening remarks. “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We […]