Statement from Paul Rieckhoff on the

June 7, 2006

NEW YORK - The executive director of the nation's largest organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan released the following statement today on the newly disclosed theft of millions of active-duty Troops' personal information.

"We've known for weeks that millions of veterans have had their personal information stolen, so why has the VA hidden the fact that millions of active-duty service members have also had their information compromised," asked Paul Rieckhoff, an Iraq War veteran and the executive director of IAVA, the nation's largest organization representing veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. (www.iava.org)

"In a time of war, our men and women in uniform don't have the time or ability to monitor their credit and protect themselves from fraud. Therefore the VA must fully disclose what information was lost, and how it plans to protect those members of the military who are now vulnerable to identity theft fraud," Rieckhoff said. "We need immediate action from the President to demonstrate a real commitment to those Troops and Veterans who selflessly answered the call to serve."

"It is an unfortunate irony that the agency tasked with protecting our veterans is now responsible for having put so many of them, and also so many active Troops, at risk," Rieckhoff said. "The agency must now redeem itself by releasing a comprehensive plan to both protect those who've had their information stolen, and also ensure that such a breach in security never happens again."