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Action Alert
Urge Your Rep. to Support Whistleblower Protections!
Terrific Bill Stalled in House Armed Services Committee
Dear Progressive Democrat:
Please contact House Members - especially those on the House Armed Services Committee - in support of bipartisan strong whistleblower protections that have ALREADY CLEARED THE SENATE!
Whistleblowers serve as the public's eyes and ears in the depths of the government bureaucracies; the availability of genuine whistleblower protections promotes disclosures of waste, fraud, and abuse of tax dollars. By protecting the rights of whistleblowers, this law would strengthen national security, save billions of tax dollars, and increase constitutional freedoms.
This language, part of the next Defense Authorization bill, would give genuine legal rights to the public servants who have been championing public truth-telling since 9/11, but who have been ignored, harassed, or silenced by government agencies more interested in preserving their bureaucratic base than protecting the taxpayer.
Legislation to combat waste, fraud, and abuse was adopted unanimously by the Senate in June as an amendment to the 2007 Defense Authorization bill. An even stronger version that extends genuine whistleblower protections to all national security employees and government contractors was unanimously approved by the House Government Reform Committee.
But Justice Department lawyers, aided by the Republican House Leadership, are attempting to strip out this language. Intent on protecting their nearly unblemished record defending the bureaucracy in retaliation cases, and silencing whistleblowers, they are fighting against passage of any whistleblower rights reform in the back rooms of the defense bill conference.
This is not an issue that should be decided behind closed doors! Democrats of all stripes and honest Republicans must demand full protections!
Shortly after Congress returns form its August recess, the House will officially name the members who will participate in the House-Senate conference on the defense authorization bill. Tell your Representative to instruct the House conferees to support whistleblower rights on the defense bill. Tell them this is an opportunity for the House of Representatives to demonstrate that it's serious about fighting corruption and that you're paying attention to the outcome of this showdown. Tell them it is unrealistic to expect public servants to defend the American taxpayers if they can't defend themselves.
The timing of the final decision on whistleblower rights is unclear because of the opaque nature of conference committee deliberations. But, Chairman Duncan Hunter and Republican leadership need to know that they cannot eliminate anti-corruption legislation in the back rooms without public scrutiny!
For more information on this bill go to the Government Accountability Project (GAP) Website at www.whistleblower.org and
http://www.whistleblower.org/content/press_detail.cfm?press_id=573
Please TAKE ACTION and forward this message to your friends, family and associates!
Sincerely,
Joe Libertelli, Advisory Board Member
Progressive Democrats of America