The Washington Times Recognizes the Value of Whistleblowers

On February 5th The Washington Times released an editorial that highlighted the indispensable role of whistleblowers in keeping our country safe. However, rather than being rewarded for their courage and contributions, or simply left alone to perform their job duties, whistleblowers are consistently subjected to harassment by their employers.

Government whistle-blowers have been the backbone of government oversight and improvement for generations, often times at great expense to themselves and their families as they face retaliation in the form of harassment, intimidation in the workplace, and firings.

The 111th Congress can not erase the harassment that our modern-day Paul Reveres have faced. However, it can change history by ensuring that ”best practices” whistleblower rights , enforced by full access to court, are included in the final economic stimulus package.

They also have sparked a new effort in Congress to pass whistle-blower protection legislation as an amendment to the economic stimulus package which passed in the House last week. There is a lot not to like in the stimulus bill, but this isn’t one of those things. This same legislation passed the House 331-85 in March 2007, but failed to become law after two senators placed an anonymous hold on the bill at the request of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. Outrageously, the civil division attorneys, who represent the U.S. government in matters of federal employees’ retaliation and harassment complaints and litigation, decided that they just didn’t want to have to deal with whistle-blower cases that could go to jury trial.

We can not afford not ”to deal” with whistleblower cases that go to jury trial when over $800 million taxpayer dollars are at stake. We are not only risking the taxpayer’s dollars, but also their safety and that of whistleblowers until they have access to a fair day in court.

Whistleblowers are the public’s first line of defense against waste, fraud and abuse. Yet, our current laws allow federal whistleblowers to be treated as if they have  committed a crime for “committing the truth.” That will change if survival instinct kicks in soon enough for the Senate to also support the best possible whistleblower protections in the final stimulus bill.