Senators Collins and Lieberman, Ranking Member and Chair of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs |
By DANA LIEBELSON
POGO once again expressed strong support for the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2011 (S. 743) today in a letter sent to Senators Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The bill, which was reintroduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) in April, has the potential to save billions of taxpayer dollars by protecting legitimate whistleblowers that expose waste, fraud, and abuse.
POGO's letter of support arrives as the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs prepares to mark up the bill tomorrow.
Incarnations of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) have come close to passing many times since Akaka first introduced the reform ten years ago. Most recently, the legislation was killed on the last day of the 111th Congress by a last-minute secret hold. The bill—versions of which passed both chambers unanimously within two weeks—was killed after it was mistakenly connected to the WikiLeaks controversy.
The bill modernizes and expands the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 by protecting lawful disclosures by federal employees for more government accountability (for a more comprehensive look at whistleblower reform, click here). If passed, the WPEA would provide intelligence community workers safe, legal channels for disclosures of wrongdoing, and for the first time, provide whistleblowers limited access to the courts.
As the Government Accountability Project (GAP) pointed out, the legislation is identical to that which was unanimously approved last December, save the “removal of a loophole that would have excluded anti-retaliation protection for disclosures of “trivial” illegality which is minor, inadvertent, and occurs during the conscientious carrying out of official duties.”
The WPEA has widespread support from both sides of the aisle and is cosponsored by Sens. Lieberman, Collins, Grassley (R-IA), and 11 others. More than 400 taxpayer, environmental, science, consumer, faith-based, civil rights and transparency groups have expressed their support, in addition to the more than 50 organizational members of the Make it Safe Coalition (POGO sits on the Steering Committee for the coalition). The WPEA also has support from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), a key House leader who has pledged to pass a bill very similar to S. 743 including protections for the intelligence community.
“We can’t thank Senator Akaka and his cosponsors enough for their tireless dedication to whistleblower reform,” said Angela Canterbury, POGO’s Director of Public Policy. “There have been many challenges along the way, but I believe that tomorrow the Committee vote will reflect the hard-won unanimity on this better government bill.”
As S.743 moves forward, POGO remains optimistic that this Congress will finally make this bill law. For more than 10 years, protections for federal whistleblowers have been a “paper tiger,” leaving whistleblowers stranded and would-be whistleblowers silent. Moreover, the present law has not kept pace with the standards of the 11 laws passed since 2002 to protect private-sector whistleblowers. As the country continues to grapple with a deep recession and concerns about how the government works, we must have a functional whistleblower system.
“Our country is in dire straits,” Canterbury said. “Now more than ever, we must fix the status quo to allow federal workers on the front lines to help us end waste, fraud, and abuse in government. We cannot wait any longer for more accountability.”
Dana Liebelson is POGO’s Beth Daley Impact Fellow.
Image via the National Archives.
Here's hoping Senator Collins comes through for whistleblowers and other American taxpayers this time around. Last time she had a role in this legislation the result was quite disappointing:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/source_collins_strips_stim_bill_of_whistleblower_p.php ("Source: Collins Strips Stim Bill Of Whistleblower Protections," Talking Points Memo, Feb. 11, 2009)
Posted by: David | Oct 18, 2011 at 04:22 PM