NWC Executive Director, Stephen M. Kohn, will appear on C-Span’s Washington Journal tomorrow at 8:30 am EST. He will be discussing the stalled Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act showcased in a recent Politico article and other whistleblower issues. Viewers will have the opportunity to ask questions via phone, email and Twitter.
July 28, 2009
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
On May 8, 2007, your presidential campaign promised America’s whistleblowers in writing that you stood behind their need for legal protection and fully supported federal court access and jury trials for all federal employees. The House of Representatives enacted these protections when it overwhelmingly passed H.R. 985 in a veto-proof, bipartisan manner. In another bipartisan effort, Representatives Van Hollen (D-MD), Waxman (D-CA), Towns (D-NY), Braley (D-IA), and Platts (R-PA) have reintroduced this bill as H.R.1507.
Now we need your help. While the House version of the bill is more inclusive, the Senate version (S.372) lacks many key protections. The Senate bill currently lacks coverage for the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who participate in the global war on terror and oversee a budget well over $150 billion. Please stand by your promise and ensure that all federal employees receive comprehensive whistleblower protections.
The reason typically cited for denying court access for all federal employees is that it could create a national security risk. As current or former national security whistleblowers, we know this is not true. In an objective and independent review, the General Accounting Office (GAO) saw “no justification for treating employees at [intelligence] agencies differently from employees at other federal agencies except in rare national security cases.” This finding has held since 1996, and yet misinformation about extending full due process protections to national security whistleblowers is still pervasive today.
Moreover, whistleblowers have actually been instrumental in pointing out issues that threaten our nation’s security. Even without full due process protections, courageous employees have pointed out problems including deficiencies in the counterterrorism program that contributed to the success of 9/11, the promotion of faulty intelligence that led to a war, systemic due process violations through misconduct in crime labs, and billions of dollars in waste and illegal contracting. Rather than a national security threat, whistleblowers are a central defense against misconduct.
The future of our nation depends on your support for this critical oversight and accountability issue. Taxpayers put forward billions in government spending, and they deserve accurate information and a guarantee of accountability. Please safeguard our nation against future terrorist attacks by removing the gag order from the brave men and women who are charged with ensuring our safety.
The past ten years have demonstrated the invaluable contributions of whistleblowers. We have made countless preventable mistakes, including the failure to search Moussaoui, abuses in Abu Ghraib, and lies to Congress about secret CIA programs. The need to fully protect national security whistleblowers is indisputable. They are vital to our country’s safety, and their future is in your hands.
Respectfully submitted,
Sibel Edmonds
FBI Whistleblower and Director of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Dr. Frederic Whitehurst
Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent and FBI Whistleblower (Crime Lab)
Member of the Board of Directors, National Whistleblower Center
Colleen Rowley
Retired FBI Agent, Whistleblower
Former Minneapolis Legal Counsel
Jane Turner
Retired FBI Agent, Whistleblower
Robert MacLean
Former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Air Marshal
National Whistleblower Liaison, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
Jon Adler
National President
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
P. Jeffrey Black
Nevada State Chapter President
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
Federal Air Marshall Whistleblower
John B. Vincent
Retired FBI Counter Terrorism Agent, Whistleblower
Bill Russell
Former NSA Employee, Whistleblower
Melvin A. Goodman
Former CIA Analyst, Senior Fellow, Center for
International Policy, Whistleblower
Russell D. Tice
Former Intelligence Analyst & Capabilities Operations
Officer, NSA, Whistleblower
Sandalio Gonzalez
Special Agent in Charge, Ret., DEA, Whistleblower
William Savich
Special Agent, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Department of
State, Whistleblower
Martin Edwin Andersen
Former Senior Advisor for Policy Planning
Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice
First-ever National Security Winner of U.S. Office of Special Counsel´s "Public Servant Award"
Joseph Carson, PE
Nuclear Safety Engineer, Department of Energy
“Multiple-time Prevailing” Whistleblower
Gabe Bruno, Representative
FAA Whistleblowers Alliance
Retired FAA Manager
Craig R. Sawyer
Former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Air Marshal Manager
Whistleblower Against Gross Mismanagement and Retaliation Member, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association
Linda Lewis,
Emergency Programs (WMD) Specialist,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Bill Bergman,
Former Senior Financial Market Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Whistleblower
Spencer A. Pickard
Former U.S. Department of Homeland Security Federal Air Marshal
While on active duty, exposed the Federal Air Marshal Service's safety and security lapses on ABC News 20/20
Mark Danielson
DoD Police Officer, Whistleblower
Bogdan Dzakovic
Former FAA Air Marshal Team Leader and Red Team Leader, Current TSA, Whistleblower
cc.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Darrell Isa
Ranking Member
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2347 Rayburn House
Office Building
Washington, DC 2051
Hon. Bruce Braley
U.S. House of Representatives
1019 Longworth HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Hon. Chris Van Hollen
U.S. House of Representatives
1707 Longworth H.O.B.
Washington, D.C. 20515
Hon. Todd Platts
Vice Ranking Member
Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs
2455 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Edolphus Towns
Chairman
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2232 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Hon. Henry A. Waxman
U.S. House of Representatives
2204 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Hon. Harry Reid
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-2803
Hon. Joe Lieberman
Chairman
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
One Constitution Plaza, 7th Floor
Hartford, CT 06103
Hon. Susan Collins
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
413 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Hon. Daniel Akaka
U.S. Senate
141 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Hon. George Voinovich
Ranking Member
U.S. Senate Subcommittees on Homeland Security & Oversight of Government Management
524 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Once again, the hearing record clearly and overwhelming proves that whistleblower reform is long overdue. There were no credible arguments presented that court access and jury trial should not be provided to all federal employees, including national security employees.
Pictured here are Angela Canterbury of Public Citizen, Prof. Robert Vaughn, William Bransford of the Senior Executive Association, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project (GAP). White House Ethics Counsel Norm Eisen is between Mr. Bransford and Sen. Akaka.
Senator Akaka (D-HI) opened the hearing by stating that “federal employee whistleblower play a crucial role in alerting Congress and the public to government wrongdoing and mismanagement, protecting our civil rights and civil liberties, helping to keep us safe, and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.” Senator Akaka explained that the purpose of the hearing was to determine how to best protect national security whistleblowers and whether or not federal employees should be provided with jury trials.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice, Rajesh De, basically repeated the same testimony that he presented at the House hearing on May 14th. The Administration remains supportive of a variety of the improvements to the Whistleblower Protection Act contained in the House and Senate versions of the bill. However, they have stopped short of fulfilling President Obama’s campaign promises. The Obama Administration has not taken a position on jury trials for Title 5 federal employees and has refused to support jury trials for national security employees, despite promising to do so in the National Whistleblowers Center’s candidate survey.
The main difference from last month’s House hearing was the hard hitting questions by Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO). Senator McCaskill stated that she was “perplexed and confused” why anyone would not want “every whistleblower on the face of the planet” to have access to a jury trial, especially federal employees. The Senator asked Mr. De to give her “any rational basis” for treating federal employees like second-class citizens. Mr. De’s response that it was too soon to tell the ramifications from the recently passed bills containing jury trials and that the Administration needed more time to investigate the issue was less than convincing. Senator McCaskill responded that whistleblower cases are hard to make, expensive to pursue, and it is difficult to find attorneys willing to take whistleblower cases. She continued that whistleblowers are doing the “heavy lifting” when it comes to reporting fraud and abuse and it is about time that we start “respecting and being deferential to whistleblowers.”
Senator Roland Burris (D-IL) also asked some important questions on the new “Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Board” proposed as an alternative to the Merit Systems Protection Board for national security employees. National security employees, who are responsible for preventing the next 9/11, must be able to report intelligence agency failures without fear of retaliation, and there was no coherent rationale provided at the hearing for excluding employees at the intelligence agencies and FBI from court access provisions contained in the House bill.
The testimony of William L. Bransford, General Counsel for the Senior Executive Association, was equally unconvincing arguing against providing for jury trials in whistleblower cases. Mr. Bransford argued that managers will be afraid to discipline “problem employees” if whistleblowers are provided access to jury trials. My question is: What is wrong with that? Why shouldn’t managers be afraid to retaliate against employees? If an employee really is a ‘bad apple’ their supervisor should be able to document why the employee should be reprimanded and proceed with proper disciplinary procedures. In my opinion, this general argument that supervisors will be chilled has little basis in reality. Managers already face jury trials for discriminating against employees on other grounds, however they are still able to effectively discipline employees and maintain a productive workforce.
Robert Vaughn a professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, Danielle Brian the Executive Director of the Project On Government Oversight, and Tom Devine the Legal Director of the Government Accountability Project presented compelling testimony on why all federal employees, including national security employees, should have full access to court and jury trials. Professor Vaughn submitted a mini treatise on the role of juries as his written testimony and provided support through detailed analysis dispelling stereotypes that are commonly used to argue against juries. Prof. Vaughn reminded the committee that academic studies show that juries decide complex cases without difficulty and that they are not biased in favor of the “little guy” in cases brought against large organizations.
I hope that after hearing today’s testimony the Senate takes action to finally protect all federal employee whistleblowers. You can do your part by sending a letter to Congress and calling Senator Akaka (202-224-6361) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) (202-224-2523) Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
If you would like more information on the Senate hearing please visit the new Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection page on the NWC website.
During the last year, you sent over 11,000 messages to Congress demanding stronger whistleblower protection. Thank you for your support! Congress heard you, and this Thursday, June 11th, the Senate is holding a hearing on amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act. The Senate legislation currently lacks two critical provisions - universal coverage for all federal employees, including national security employees, and full court access. Now we need to tell Congress that meaningful whistleblower protection must include these provisions.
Your support is more important than ever! We have a historic chance to protect the federal employees responsible for oversight and accountability.
Please click here to contact Congress now!
Last week Bunny Greenhouse testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in support of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act - H.R. 1507. Although Bunny was removed from her Senior Executive Service position following her initial Congressional testimony about Halliburton no-bid contracts, she courageously returned to Capitol Hill because she believes that "all employees should be protected from retaliation for reporting waste, fraud and abuse." Incredibly the Army Corps has once again retaliated against Bunny for exposing the truth. Within hours of delivering her testimony, Bunny received an email from the Army Corps' Chief of Staff stating that all future testimony before Congress must be submitted for pre-approval by the Army Corps. In response to this unconstituional directive, Bunny has issued a new letter to the American people. In the letter Bunny asks all Americans to take action to protect federal employees by demanding immediate passage of H.R. 1507.
"When the United States orders its employees to submit to censorship when they are exercising their constitutional right to 'petition Congress for redress of grievances,' it is time to fight back!"
Click here to read Bunny's new letter and take action now.
Click here to read the National Whistleblowers Center's letter to President Obama concerning the retaliation against Bunny Greenhouse
Today, the National Whistleblowers Center joined a letter with members of the Make it Safe Coalition asking President Obama to reaffirm his campaign commitment to stronger whistleblower protections. The letter acknowledges the Presidents efforts to improve transparency and accountability in the federal government with the creation of the Open Government Directive and the recent memorandum to agency heads directing them to adopt appropriate whistleblower protections to ensure scientific integrity. However, the groups express concern that the President’s signing statement on March 11th could have a chilling affect on lawful whistleblower disclosures to Congress.
The letter urges President Obama to make his position clear and take three concrete steps to fulfill his commitment to transparency and accountability through strengthened federal employee whistleblower rights.
The Three Steps:
1) Commitment: Reaffirm his strong endorsement of reforms for federal whistleblower rights made in his campaign statements and transition policy – reforms providing best-practice free speech rights, including full court access for all whistleblowers funded by taxpayers and coverage of government contractors – and the appointment of a liaison responsible for interacting with whistleblower advocates as set forth in his May 8, 2007, response to a candidate survey.
2) Change: Actively support the swift enactment of strong whistleblower protections, such as those in the bipartisan H.R. 1507, sponsored by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA), in advance of congressional hearings this year, and communicate that message specifically to Attorney General Eric Holder. The president’s help will ensure that Congress enacts strong, comprehensive federal whistleblower protection legislation that gives all federal employees a functional administrative process and access to jury trials.
3) Leadership: Issue and enforce a directive to all agency managers that they must not tolerate any retaliation against federal employees who expose waste, fraud, abuse, suppression of federal research, threats to public health and safety, and illegality. While this directive alone will not resolve the need for improvements to the law, it will help to send a strong message of support for federal employees and help to end the culture of secrecy.
The NWC is optimistic that by working together with the President and members of Congress meaningful whistleblower protection for all federal employees will soon become a reality. If you would like to express your support to Congress please sign the petition.
As you know, we have been waging an intense campaign for new whistleblower protection laws. We have experienced recent victories and setbacks. And now, prominent whistleblowers like Bunny Greenhouse are calling us all to action. Throughout this campaign, our staff has been incredibly impressed with the level of support shown by our blog readers, facebook users, and all other online grassroots supporters. We have sent thousands of letters to Congress and we are achieving real change!!!
This groundswell of support is driving a national conversation about whistleblower rights, which is evidenced by the fact that the national news media is paying very close attention to these recent developments. Just today, there are two stories in the Washington Post detailing the struggle for whistleblower protections for federal employees, and especially national security whistleblowers. See the links below for the articles.
"Advocates Determined to See Whistleblower Protections Pass"
The U.S. Senate is debating the financial stimulus package, and the whistleblower protection provision is in danger! We have worked too hard to suffer another seback.
The Senate is preparing to vote on the stimulus package, and we must seize this historic opportunity to obtain whistleblower protection for all federal employees. We’re in the final stages of the fight and taxpayers who demand oversight and accountability are making their voices heard, but we need your help. Now Halliburton whistleblower, Bunny Greenhouse is calling on all Americans to contact Congress and tell your Senators and Representatives to keep whistleblower protection in the final version of the stimulus package.
Bunny’s urgent letter capped off a week of increasing public support for whistleblower protection. Yesterday, the Washington Post published a letter to the editor emphasizing that whistleblower protections are essential for oversight and accountability. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania Patriot News endorsed the whistleblower protection amendment of the stimulus package as a necessity to allow civil servants to report fraud.
The Washington Independent published an article addressing the lack of protection offered to whistleblowers in the stimulus bill. The article quoted Stephen Kohn, who states: "The biggest defect in the current language in the House and Senate versions, is about blowing the whistle internally." The bill protects only employees that report wrongdoings to Congress or an Inspector General, but does not provide protection to those that make internal reports to their own employers. Protecting taxpayer money with strong oversight and accountability safeguards is of extreme importance, therefore Congress must provide adequate protection for all whistleblowers.
"Whistleblowers Vulnerable in Stimulus" by Daphne Eviatar
*Thelma Lizama (a NWC intern) contributed to this posting
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