WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA) released the following statement on the announcement from the Office of Personnel Management that 5.6 million people's fingerprints were stolen as part of the data hacks that were disclosed earlier this summer:

“The massive new number of employees’ fingerprints that was breached is shocking. And it does little to instill confidence in OPM that it took them so long to detect that the number was so much larger than originally thought. Because of the permanence of fingerprint data, it’s more important than ever that we pass the RECOVER Act, of which I’m a proud original cosponsor, to provide affected individuals with lifetime identity protection coverage.” 

Additionally, Senator Warner introduced the bipartisan Federal Information Security Management Reform Act (FISMA Reform), which strengthens the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) authority to protect federal civilian networks. More information on the FISMA Act is available here, and more information the RECOVER Act is available here.