Congressional Record: July 23, 2001 (Extensions)
Page E1396
PROTECTING OUR WHISTLEBLOWERS
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HON. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Monday, July 23, 2001
Mrs. MORELLA. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduced legislation in
Congress amending the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) to restore
protections for federal employees who risk their jobs by disclosing
waste, fraud, abuse or violations of law they witness on the job. This
legislation is critical to restore the flow of information to Congress
and the public about wrongdoing within the government. It is necessary
because the original congressional intent has been partially nullified
by certain judicial decisions. In 1989, Congress unanimously passed the
Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) and strengthened it in 1994. The new
bill closes judicially created loopholes that have made the law useless
in most circumstances. Recent decisions by the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit have denied protection for disclosures made as part of
an employee's job duties or within the chain of command. The bill
restores coverage in over 90 percent of the situations where it counts
most for federal workers to have free speech rights-- when they defend
the public on the job.
The bill also makes permanent a free speech shield known as the
``anti-gag statute'' that Congress has passed annually for the last 13
years. It outlaws nondisclosure rules, agreements and other forms of
gag orders that would cancel rights in the Whistleblower Protection Act
and other good government statutes. In particular, it upholds the
supremacy of a long-established law that workers have a right to notice
that information is classified as secret for national security
interests, before they can be held liable for releasing it. The
necessity for the bill was increased last week by passage of a little
noticed provision in the Intelligence Authorization Act for 2001. That
provision functionally could make whistleblowers liable for criminal
prosecution, based on speculation that unmarked information were
classified.
We must reaffirm our support for whistleblowers. We made a serious
commitment to federal workers in 1989 and Congress must ensure those
protections stay in place. Congress must demonstrate once again its
support for federal workers who risk everything to defend the public
against fraud, waste, and abuse.
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