Democratic members of the House Financial Services committeehave called on Chairman JebHensarling (R-Texas) to hold a full committee hearing on theTarget data breach.

“We note that the Committee's oversight plan for the 113thCongress states that building on the Committee's long-standing rolein developing laws governing the handling of sensitive personalfinancial information about consumers including theGramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Fair and Accurate CreditTransactions Act, the Committee will continue to evaluate bestpractices for protecting the security and confidentiality of suchinformation from any loss, unauthorized access, or misuse,” the 17congressmen and women wrote in a letter on Friday.

The letter is signed by Democrat congressmen and women includingRanking Member Maxine Waters (Calif.), Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.), LacyClay (Mo.), Daniel T. Kildee (Mich.), Terri A. Sewell (Ala.), JamesA. Himes (Conn.), Gary C. Peters (Mich.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), DennyHeck (Wash.), Michael E. Capuano (Mass.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.),Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.), Ed Perlmutter (Colo.), David Scott (Ga.),Stephen F. Lynch (Mass.), Gregory W. Meeks (N.Y.) and Bill Foster(Ill.). “It is incumbent upon our Committee to explore whetherindustry data protection standards are appropriate, and examinewhether heightened regulatory standards are needed to moreeffectively protect consumers,” the letter said. “A hearing wouldprovide members the opportunity to hear from regulators and theindustry to learn what steps merchants, financial institutions,payment processers, card networks and others should take to reducevulnerabilities in the payment system, and strengthen measures thatprotect consumers from fraud,” they wrote.