{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=392749", "Congressman Griffith's Weekly E-Newsletter 9.8.14", "2014-09-08", "2014", "2014-09", "Republican", "House", "VA", "Morgan Griffith", "G000568", "morgangriffith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Immigration Reform Update  \n Since taking office, President Obama has promised to take action on immigration reform.\u00a0 He guaranteed he would do so in his first year in office.\u00a0 When the Democrats controlled the House and the Senate, he focused instead on other issues, including Obamacare. More recently, in late June, the President said he planned to use his executive authority by the end of summer to change our immigration system without Congress. However, on Saturday, September 6, it was announced that President Obama, bowing to pressure from some in his party including Senators in contested races this year, will be delaying his unilateral \u201camnesty by executive action\u201d until after the November election.\u00a0 White House officials are quoted in the press as saying he \u201cwill take action on immigration before the end of the year.\u201d His plans are highly controversial, lack Congressional support, and, if rumors about the plans are true, the plans may be unconstitutional.\u00a0 Delaying them until after the elections is shamelessly political.\u00a0 If President Obama wants to see changes to our immigration system, he should work with Congress and demonstrate he can be trusted to enforce our nation\u2019s laws as written. \u00a0 Constitutionally, he cannot rewrite laws on his own. \u00a0 Politically, his ideas must not be popular or he wouldn\u2019t fear the November elections. Obamacare Website Hacked in July Late last week, the Wall Street Journal first reported that a hacker had breached the Obamacare website in July, uploading malicious software to the site.\u00a0 Though the site stores personal information including Social Security numbers, financial data, and more, the report notes that the investigators who had discovered the July hack in late August \u201c\u2026found no evidence that consumers\u2019 personal data were taken or viewed during the breach\u2026.\u201d This is very troubling, though unfortunately it is not very surprising.\u00a0 I and others have been very concerned about the security of the Obamacare website, especially given the many technical difficulties revealed during its launch in October of last year. In fact, a little more than a month after its botched launch, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a November 19, 2013 hearing on the security of the Obamacare website.\u00a0 Testifying at this hearing was Mr. Henry Chao, Deputy Chief Information Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Information Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the project manager of the Obamacare website. Among the issues I asked Mr. Chao about was a memorandum signed by Marilyn Tavenner, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, that states, \u201cDue to system readiness issues, the [Security Control Assessment] SCA was only partly completed.\u00a0 This constitutes a risk that must be accepted and mitigated to support the Marketplace Day 1 operations.\u201d The Obamacare website holds information about millions of Americans that certain criminals would surely love to get their hands on.\u00a0 That the American people are required to provide data to the government is problematic.\u00a0 But in return, once the data is given to the government, the government ought to protect it. As you may recall, on January 10 of this year, the House of Representatives passed the Health Exchange Security and Transparency Act (H.R. 3811).\u00a0 This bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promptly notify people if their personal data provided to the Obamacare website is breached.\u00a0 Despite objections from the Administration, 67 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it. \u00a0 Among them was Representative Steve Israel (D-NY), a member of the House Democrat leadership team.\u00a0 Rep. Israel is reported as having said in a statement, \u201cI voted for this bill because I want to make sure confidential information is protected.\u00a0 That\u2019s just common sense.\u201d I agree - common sense it is.\u00a0 Unfortunately this bill, like 345 others, has yet to be acted on by the Senate.\u00a0 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and those Senators who support him and his style of politics need to let this bill and other good, common-sense ideas from the House be voted on.\u00a0 Especially given the recent hack of Obamacare\u2019s website, I vehemently urge them to take action on this bill.\u00a0 It is past time that the American people are given peace of mind that their personal information\u00a0provided to the Obamacare website is secure and protected. As always, if you have concerns or comments or wish to inquire about legislative issues, feel free to contact my offices. You can call my Abingdon office at 276-525-1405 or my Christiansburg office at 540-381-5671. To reach my office via email, please visit my website at www.morgangriffith.house.gov.\u00a0\n###", 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://morgangriffith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=392749"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9176810272037983, "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"}