FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is leading a bipartisan bill to extend free credit monitoring to all U.S. service members and their families – a benefit that is currently only available to active duty service members and National Guard members.
The Servicemembers’ Credit Monitoring Enhancement Act would provide free credit monitoring to all service members and their families. The bill would mean that military spouses and dependents over 18, as well as all service members -- including non-active duty reservists -- would be eligible.
The bill has bipartisan support and is co-sponsored by Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Tom Carper, D-Del., and Steve Daines R-Mont. It also has the backing of The Military Coalition, including 24 of their service member organizations, and credit reporting agency TransUnion.
"The brave men and women of our military represent the best of us and sacrifice so much in order to keep our country safe," Klobuchar said in a statement. "We need to make sure we’re doing all we can to support them. By making free credit monitoring available for all service members and their families, this bipartisan legislation will help provide peace of mind to those in uniform and military families when it comes to their financial security."
CONCERNS GROW AS US MILITARY FACES RECRUITMENT CRISIS FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW
Cramer highlighted how the sacrifices made by service members and their families "leave them more vulnerable to financial fraud."
"Ensuring military families have full access to credit monitoring services will help keep their information secure," he said.
Carper, a 23-year Navy veteran, said "we owe it to our service members and their families to make sure that their financial well-being is protected while they are protecting our country at home and abroad."
"Military families are often more vulnerable to cybersecurity breaches, which can expose personal data like sensitive financial and identification information. That’s why I’m proud to co-sponsor this bipartisan legislation to expand access to free credit monitoring tools to more service members and their families, so that when it comes time to make critical financial decisions, they can feel secure," he said.
Daines, the son of a U.S. Marine, said he knows firsthand the sacrifice made by service members and their families: "The last thing they should have to worry about is credit fraud or identity theft. I’ll always work to find common sense, bipartisan solutions for Montana military families who have given so much for our state and our nation."
The Military Coalition, which represents more than 5.5. million service members, veterans and their families, said in a letter supporting the bill that the continued financial readiness of service members and their families is "vital to national security" and cited Federal Trade Commission research that shows that spouses and dependents of service members are just as likely to be targets of fraud and ID theft as those in uniform.
"When a scam victimizes a spouse or dependent, it affects the entire family," the letter said.
Cory Titus, director of Servicemember Compensation and Veteran Benefits at the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) – one of the groups in the coalition – told Fox News Digital in an interview that it comes as the U.S. is facing a recruiting crisis that he warned must not also become a retention crisis.
"And part of the reason why something like this is so important is that there are so many unique challenges for service members and their families that most people don't understand," he said. "The constant moves, their spouse searching for employment – all these things add up."
"We can't ever do everything to fully mitigate the service and sacrifice that comes with wearing the uniform of our nation. But we can take steps to support families where we see they're especially affected," he said.
He emphasized that the effect that such challenges have on families can also affect the service member as well.
"If a spouse is dealing with some sort of challenge or identity theft, something like that, it's absolutely going to be affecting the service member as well," he said. "And it comes back to the question, what do we want them focused on? Worried about taking care of this on their own or focusing back on the mission?"
The bipartisan legislation comes amid a tense and often heavily partisan atmosphere in Congress. Klobuchar has previously worked on bipartisan legislation to aid veterans who were exposed to toxins, including bills to improve education and training for health care personnel and to expand access to cancer screenings for those exposed to toxins.
Titus stressed that there is a lot of work to be done to support service members and said there is "no silver bullet."
"It's just a whole bunch of little things, and enhancing the credit monitoring for service member families is an important step to making life for them a little bit better," he said.
