{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://lamarsmith.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-smith-questions-white-house-knowledge-of-security-concerns", "Chairman Smith Questions White House Knowledge of Security Concerns Prior to Healthcare.gov Launch", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "TX", "Lamar Smith", "S000583", "lamarsmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) along with Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Paul Broun M.D. (R-Ga.) and Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-Ind.) today sent a letter to the White House, requesting all records of actions surrounding the security of the Healthcare.gov website.\u00a0 The letter, addressed to President Obama\u2019s top advisor for Science and Technology, Dr. John Holdren, outlines a number of security concerns and questions the extent to which those concerns were understood by the administration prior to the website\u2019s launch on October 1, 2013.\n\u201cIn its haste to launch the Healthcare.gov website, it appears the Obama Administration cut corners that leave the site open to hackers and other online criminals,\u201d the lawmakers wrote.\u00a0\u201cAs a result, Americans who have already entered personal information into Healthcare.gov are vulnerable to identity theft.\u201d\nThe data passing through the Healthcare.gov website is one of the largest collections of personal information ever assembled, linking social security numbers, birth dates, tax and other financial information from seven different federal agencies, along with state agencies and government contractors.\nAt a hearing held on November 19, the Science Committee received troubling testimony from online security experts regarding the flaws and vulnerabilities in the Obamacare website that put the personal data of Americans at risk. One witness, Mr. David Kennedy, a so-called \u2018white hat hacker,\u2019 gave a demonstration showing how hackers are attempting to access personal information on the website.\u00a0 According to his testimony, not only is the website vulnerable, it is under active attack.\u00a0 Even more troubling, Mr. Kennedy testified that there are \u201cclear indicators that even basic security was not built into the Healthcare.gov website.\u201d Moreover, the administration\u2019s recent efforts to address the flaws with the website\u2019s capacity do not appear to address the larger security and privacy issues raised in our hearing.\u00a0\nThe letter questions the role of one of President Obama\u2019s top assistants, Mr. Todd Park, in overseeing security issues before the website was launched.\u00a0 The White House has now rejected three invitations for Mr. Park to testify before the House Science Committee, claiming that Mr. Park has not been involved in security issues.\u00a0 However, Mr. Park was a White House co-chair of the official Steering Committee with direct oversight of the security and privacy working groups that oversaw website development. The letter requests that the White House expand on suggestions made by staff that Mr. Park\u2019s activities are protected by Executive Privilege. The letter asks whether the administration intends to invoke such a claim.\nThe letter further states, \u201cIt is logical to assume that security and privacy responsibility resides at the highest level of government.\u00a0 We are troubled by the fact that the President either did not know, or did not care, that the personal and financial data collected as part of Obamacare is not secure.\u201d\n\u201cWe already know of numerous attempts to hack into the system and can only assume many more have gone unreported,\u201d the Congressmen wrote.\u00a0 \u201cUnless the Obama Administration takes swift action to address security, it is likely the worst is yet to come.\u201d\nThe full letter can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://lamarsmith.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/chairman-smith-questions-white-house-knowledge-of-security-concerns"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7243609763681889, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}