98 Groups Urge House to Pass S. 372 Now to Protect Whistleblowers and Taxpayers
An Open Letter to Members of the House of Representatives:
Ensure that the Bipartisan Reforms
Long Supported by the House Become Law This Year.
Passing S. 372 Will Protect Both Whistleblowers and Taxpayers
For the past two Congresses, the House of Representatives has passed, with strong bipartisan support, reform legislation that protects federal employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse. This year, bipartisan support for these reforms advanced in the Senate, and late last week the Senate unanimously approved S. 372, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. This legislation, which reflects a true compromise between Senate and House versions of whistleblower reform, must become law this year.
In no time in our history is whistleblower reform more crucial: This country must address our growing federal debt and cannot afford to tolerate waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. With this crisis looming, we urge you to fulfill your commitments to taxpayers and pass S. 372.
Protecting whistleblowers is a reform that has strong support across ideological lines. The groups on this letter are united in this urgent request that federal employees, the foot soldiers in the war on waste, fraud and abuse, get the protections they deserve. They must be able to fight back when they are fired, harassed or demoted in retaliation for their efforts to protect the public health and safety and taxpayer dollars.
Unfortunately, under current law the Merit Systems Protection Board rules against 99% of whistleblowers who file suit to defend themselves against retaliation. Fear of committing career suicide leads federal workers to become silent observers when they witness fraud, waste or abuse. Congress can and must enact a whistleblower reform law that ensures that federal whistleblowers who are punished for speaking the truth have the tools they need to fight subsequent retaliation, and win. Congress must significantly strengthen these protections, but time is running short. Passage of the pending Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372) must be a priority for the House in the lame duck.
We know that whistleblowers save money. Each year, whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act save taxpayers nearly one billion dollars. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers study of corporations globally found that employee disclosures were responsible for detection of more fraud than auditors, internal compliance officers, and law enforcement combined.
While S. 372 does not include every reform that our community has sought, it will dramatically improve the status quo—for whistleblowers and taxpayers. Please do not delay in making this whistleblower protection legislation with strong bipartisan support law. If you are serious about responding to American voters, reducing the debt, and ensuring the integrity of government, you will do all you can to make whistleblower reform a reality this year.
Signed by:
- ACORN 8
- Affiliation of Christian Engineers
- AFGE Council 238 (U.S. EPA AFGE Locals)
- Alliance for Sustainable Communities - Lehigh Valley
- American Association of Law Libraries
- American Civil Liberties Union
- American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
- American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
- Association of American Publishers
- Beyond Nuclear
- Bill of Rights Defense Committee
- Black Autonomy Network Community Organization (BANCO)
- C-10 Research and Education Foundation
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
- CERES, the Center for Environmental Research and Education thru Synergy
- Citizen Power
- Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger
- Coalition For change, Inc. (C4C)
- Colorado Clean Water Advocates
- Concerned Citizens of Petersburg
- Conservation Northwest
- Consumers Union
- CROP PLUS (Concerned Residents of Portland, NY + People Like Us)
- Custom Employees Against Discrimination Association (CEADA)
- DC Employment Justice Center
- Delaware Action Group
- Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO
- Disaster Accountability Project
- Energy Justice Network
- Environmental Working Group
- FAA Whistleblowers Alliance
- Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
- Federation of American Scientists
- Focus on Indiana
- Food Not Bombs
- Fort Worth Citizens Against Neighborhood Drilling Operations (FWCANDO)
- Foundation for Global Community
- Fund for Constitutional Government
- Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
- Global Warming Education Network
- Government Accountability Project (GAP)
- Green Party of Pennsylvania
- Greenpeace
- Greenwich Citizens Committee, Inc.
- Hanford Challenge
- Health Integrity Project
- Help Abolish Legal Tyranny (HALT)
- Help For Sewage Victims
- Homeowners Against Deficient Dwellings
- Implode-Explode Heavy Industry, Inc.
- International Association of Whistleblowers
- International Medical Council on Vaccinations
- Media Alliance
- MidlandCares
- MPD PRODUCTIONS, INC.
- National Coalition of Organized Women
- National Family Farm Coalition
- National Forum On Judicial Accountability
- National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc.
- National Religious Campaign Against Torture
- National Research Denter for Women & Families
- National Taxpayers Union
- National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU)
- New Media Rights
- New Mexico Environmental Law Center
- New Orleans Women's Shelter
- Nuclear Watch South
- OAK - Organizations Associating for the Kind of Change America Really Needs
- OMB Watch
- OpenTheGovernment.org
- Oregon Wildlife Federation
- PCP PRIDE (People Rising in Defense of Ecology)
- POPULAR, Inc. - Power Over Poverty Under Laws of America Restored
- Private Citizen, Inc.
- Project On Government Oversight (POGO)
- Public Citizen
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)
- Reproductive Health Technologies Project
- Responsible Charge
- San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace
- Santa Monicans For Safe Drinking Water Coalition
- Scientists for Indigenous People
- Semmelweis Society International
- Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
- Tax Justice Network USA
- Terra Foundation
- Texas Campaign for the Environment
- Texas Injured Workers
- The Ecology Party of Florida
- The Employment Law Group
- The Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Alliance
- Trivalley Cares
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Voices for Corporate Responsibility
- Workplace Fairness
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