POGO and Groups Urge Congress to Protect Whistleblowing Scientists
To:
- United States Senate
- Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator:
In the next few weeks, House and Senate negotiators are working to reconcile bills to enhance whistleblower protections for federal employees. Your leadership on this issue will help to ensure that the final version of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act contains specific protections for federal scientists who blow the whistle on the suppression or distortion of federal research or technical information. Such protections, which were incorporated into the House passed whistleblower bill, H.R. 985, are crucial for the health and safety of all Americans.
Federal government scientists play a crucial role in providing data and scientific analyses to policy makers so they can make the best, most informed decisions about our environment, health, and national security. Whether it is toy safety, drug efficacy, or air quality, we count on federal agencies to use independent and unbiased science to protect us from harm.
Federal law has defined a whistleblower as someone who reports waste, fraud and “abuse of authority.” This definition, however, fails to address the problems facing too many federal scientists.
Surveys, investigations, and media reports increasingly show that federal science is being manipulated, suppressed, and distorted. Indeed, of the nearly 3,400 federal scientists across nine agencies who have responded to questionnaires by the Union of Concerned Scientists, more than 1,100 scientists report that they fear retaliation for openly expressing concerns about their agency’s mission-driven work.
Scientists who expose the suppression and distortion of their work should be protected for alerting the public to potential dangers. For this reason, any comprehensive whistleblower law that Congress approves this year must define “abuse of authority” to include the suppression and/or distortion of federal research and technical information.
Specific whistleblower protections would not give federal scientists the right to usurp legitimate supervisory oversight or policy making that appropriately is delegated to political appointees and senior managers, nor would it allow them to violate federal law shielding national security and proprietary information. Rather, they would afford a federal scientist whose work has been suppressed or distorted protection from reprisal if the scientist publicly reported these attempts.
At a time when Congress has serious concerns about an aging federal workforce and the United States is facing unique scientific and technical challenges, it is crucial that federal agencies do all they can to retain their most experienced and skilled scientists and technicians. Whistleblower protections for scientists and researchers would improve morale at federal agencies and help to retain and recruit dedicated civil servants.
We urge you to advocate for a final bill that would provide protection from retaliation for exposing attempts to censor, distort, or suppress any scientific or technical research. Congress must recognize that scientists must be able to work to protect the health and safety of Americans, without interference, and should be able to speak out about distorted or suppressed scientific findings without retribution.
Signed by:
- Mary Alice Baish, Acting Washington Affairs Representative
- American Association of Law Libraries
- John W. Curtis, Ph.D., Director of Research and Public Policy
- American Association of University Professors
- Christopher Finan, President
- American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression
- Lynne E. Bradley, Director, Office of Government Relations
- American Library Association
- Patricia S. Schroeder, President & CEO
- Association of American Publishers
- Wayne C. Shields, President and CEO
- Association of Reproductive Health Professionals
- Terry Francke, General Counsel
- Californians Aware
- William Snape, Senior Counsel
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Paul Kurtz, Chairman
- Center for Inquiry
- Kirsten Stade, Program Manager, Integrity of Science Project
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Dave Werntz, Science and Conservation Director
- Conservation Northwest
- Sarah Dufendach, Vice President of Legislative Affairs
- Common Cause
- Rachel Weintraub, Director of Product Safety and Senior Counsel
- Consumer Federation of America
- Ellen Bloom, Assistant Director of the Washington Office
- Consumers Union
- Jamie Rappaport Clark, Executive Vice President
- Defenders of Wildlife
- Dr. Jim Murtagh
- Doctors for Open Government
- Susan A. Holmes, Senior Legislative Representative
- Earthjustice
- Jon Hunter, Policy Director
- Endangered Species Coalition
- John Richard, Director
- Essential Information
- George Anderson
- Ethics in Government Group
- Daniel Hirsch, Executive Committee
- Concerned Foreign Service Officers
- Steven Aftergood, Project Director, Project on Government Secrecy
- Federation of American Scientists
- Gwen Marshall, co-Chairman
- Georgians for Open Government
- Tom Devine, Legal Director
- Government Accountability Project
- Helen Salisbury, M.D.
- Health Integrity Project
- Brett Kimberlin, Director
- Justice Through Music
- Mike Kelly
- Fish Biologist, Former Whistleblower
- Michael D. Ostrolenk, Co-Founder/National Director
- Liberty Coalition
- Mary Treacy, Executive Director
- Minnesota Coalition on Government Information
- Joan E. Bertin, Esq., Executive Director
- National Coalition Against Censorship
- Diana Zuckerman, Ph.D., President
- National Research Center for Women & Families
- Amy Allina, Program Director
- National Women's Health Network
- Karen Wayland, Legislative Director
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Kim Nelson
- Research Wildlife Biologist
- Rick Engler, Director
- New Jersey Work Environment Council
- Sean Moulton, Director of Information Policy
- OMB Watch
- Patrice McDermott, Director
- OpenTheGovernment.org
- Larry Siems, Director, Freedom to Write and International Programs
- PEN American Center
- Danielle Brian, Executive Director
- Project On Government Oversight
- David Arkush, Director
- Public Citizen's Congress Watch
- Jeff Ruch, Executive Director
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
- Kirsten Moore, President and CEO
- Reproductive Health Technologies Project
- James A. Landrith, Jr., Founder
- The Multiracial Activist
- Ron Marshall, Chairman
- The New Grady Coalition
- Ellen Paul, Executive Director
- The Ornithological Council
- John W. Whitehead, President
- The Rutherford Institute
- Kevin Kuritzky
- The Student Health Integrity Project
- Dane vonBreichenruchardt, President
- U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation
- Francesca T. Grifo, Ph.D., Director, Scientific Integrity Program
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Bruce McIntosh, Staff Ecologist
- Western Nebraska Resources Council
- John Young
- Retired Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- Follow the link to read the Coalition press release
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