Stronger Whistle-Blower Protection Passes Senate

Stronger Whistle-Blower Protection Passes Senate
By Stephen BarrWednesday, December 19, 2007; Page D04
With nary an objection, the Senate approved legislation to strengthen protections for federal employees who reveal waste, fraud and abuse, setting up negotiations with the House on the first major expansion of whistle-blower rights since 1989.
The bill, sponsored by Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), was approved on a voice vote late Monday. The House in March approved a bill to strengthen whistle-blower protections for federal employees.
For six years, efforts to get whistle-blower legislation through Congress have been opposed by the Justice Department, blocked by senators and dropped from legislative packages at the last moment.
"It is easy to be cynical, but this is one genuine reform where Congress is doing its share," said Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower protection organization.
The bill would protect federal employees who make any disclosure, permit employees to share classified information with members of Congress and protect whistle-blowers whose security clearances are revoked because of retaliation.
It also would set up a five-year experiment under which federal employees could take their cases to a nearby federal appeals court when challenging administrative rulings, rather than to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as is now required.
There are 400 to 500 whistle-blower cases in the government every year, and advocacy groups contend that agencies often try to silence or discredit employees who speak out about waste and mismanagement.
Akaka said "recent instances of government waste, fraud and abuse clearly demonstrate the need to promote disclosure of wrongdoing." Collins said the Senate bill would help ensure that congressional committees "have access to the information necessary to conduct proper oversight."
The White House has objected to parts of the House and Senate bills, including provisions that would allow judicial review of executive branch decisions to revoke security clearances.
Because there are differences between the House and Senate versions, negotiators will begin work, probably next year, on a compromise, a congressional aide said.