Great news: the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee just approved the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 by a bipartisan unanimous voice vote.
This morning we attended the Committee's markup for the bill (S. 372). Led by Committee Chair Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Ranking Member Susan Collins (R-ME), amendments were added to give many federal workers access to jury trials, extend coverage to federal scientists and transportation security officers, and close several loopholes in the current law. This latest version of the bill brings it closer to its House counterpart, and incorporates many of the recommendations we made to the Committee in testimony last month.
POGO and its coalition partners in the Make It Safe Campaign believe the bill could be improved even more by including permanent access to jury trials for all whistleblowers, truly independent and functional due process for employees of the FBI and other intelligence agencies, and coverage for all federal contractors. Nonetheless, the bill passed today is a huge step forward, and we want to thank Senators Lieberman, Collins, Akaka, Voinovich, and McCaskill, in addition to other Senate offices and representatives from federal agencies and the White House, for their tireless efforts to achieve meaningful whistleblower protections for all federal employees.
-- Marc Vartabedian and Michael Smallberg
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