Leahy Whistleblower Measure
Advances In Senate

WASHINGTON (Oct. 10) – Legislation authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and others to protect federal government whistleblowers from retaliation was approved Wednesday by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.  The legislation is part of the reauthorization bill to fund the Office of Special Counsel, the government office charged with reviewing whistleblower claims.  The bill now moves to the full Senate for consideration.

The whistleblower provisions – proposed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), Leahy and others -- would end the monopoly of the Federal Circuit -- a federal appeals court -- on federal whistleblower cases.  It would also reverse several specific decisions of that court that have narrowly interpreted whistleblower laws.  One such decision prevents government whistleblowers from prevailing unless they produce “irrefragable” evidence of government waste, fraud, and abuse, a standard not found in any statute.  Another such decision allows the government to avoid liability by not firing a whistleblower, but instead revoking their security clearance as retaliation for properly reporting misconduct to authorities or Congress.

“Protecting whistleblowers is vital to protecting the security of our nation,” said Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees federal law enforcement agencies including the FBI.  “People who literally risk everything to point out waste, fraud and abuse in our government deserve a reasonable guarantee that they will not suffer retaliation for their patriotism.  Unfortunately, current laws have been interpreted so narrowly that such a guarantee does not exist.”

Since he assumed the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee last year, Leahy has held a series of FBI oversight hearings at which rank-and-file FBI agents have come forward to point out flaws within the FBI.  In her testimony before the panel on June 6, FBI Special Agent Coleen Rowley explained her criticisms of the FBI’s pre-Sept. 11 handling of the investigation of Zacharias Moussaoui.

Leahy introduced bipartisan whistleblowing legislation as part of the FBI Reform Act.  That bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in April but has been blocked by anonymous Republican holds since then.  Leahy, joined by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), also authored the corporate whistleblower provisions that became part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on corporate reform signed earlier this year by the President.

Leahy also is working with other senators to remedy the provisions proposed by the Administration for the Department of Homeland Security that would allow the new department to exempt itself from even the current whistleblower laws.  

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