National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, each year on July 30, we take time to celebrate whistleblowers and the very hard role that whistleblowers play in keeping our government transparent and accountable.

But the task of supporting whistleblowers doesn't start and stop on July 30; it is a year-round job. And here in this Congress, it is something that we have been working on for decades.

When I first came to Washington in the 1970s, most of the whistleblower laws we take for granted today didn't even exist then.

I like to tell people, anyone who dared to blow the whistle back at that time was about as welcome as a skunk at a picnic.

People in government would often retaliate by trying to run the whistleblower off and make them out to be the problem instead of the problem the whistleblower was trying to present.

I still hear about that kind of retaliation going on this very day in far too many cases. But, today, we have better whistleblower protections in place than we did years ago, and whistleblowers have important advocates in their corner to support them.

The Nation owes a special thanks for many of the key whistleblower protections that we have in place this very day to my former colleague and good friend, Senator Carl Levin, who died yesterday at the age of 87.

Carl was the original sponsor of the Whistleblower Protection Act back in 1989, and a cosponsor of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012.

I was proud to have worked with Carl on those foundational pieces of whistleblower legislation. I know that if Carl were still here in the Senate this very day, he would be continuing to lead on whistleblower issues.

Carl understood that whistleblower protections are not just important to Members of Congress and a small network of interest groups in Washington, DC; they are important for the entire Nation because whistleblowers play a critical role in our government. They call attention to the problems of waste, fraud, abuse, and inefficiency.

And if you have the sort of transparency that comes because whistleblowers are ready to stand up for what is right, that transparency brings accountability to our government, and you can't have a democratic government that is not accountable.

These whistleblowers help those of us in Congress to identify problems in the government so we can fix them through oversight and, if necessary, passing legislation.

And so whistleblowers help keep government transparent and accountable to the people, and they help us find ways of saving taxpayers' dollars.

As much as Carl accomplished during his Senate career helping whistleblowers, and as much as we have accomplished together over the years, there is still more that needs to be done to ensure that whistleblowers remain protected.

One important resource for whistleblowers is the Merit Systems Protection Board, where whistleblowers can go if they face retaliation for blowing the whistle.

And let me tell you, too many whistleblowers face retaliation for doing just what is right. We ought to see them as partisans for good government.

Now, this Merit Systems Protection Board has been without a quorum for more than 2 years, and it has developed a significant backlog of cases. I am not sure what is keeping President Biden from sending us nominations for that board. I certainly believe he needs to do that without delay.

There is also still work to do to make whistleblower protections stronger and more robust. I am working on several pieces of whistleblower legislation in this Congress. One of my bills will strengthen incentives and protections for whistleblowers who report potential money laundering.

And I also have legislation to further strengthen the False Claims Act and an act entitled Program Fraud Civil Remedies by giving Agencies more resources to directly take on people who defraud the government.

In addition, I am working on legislation that will establish stronger whistleblower protections for our FBI employees. Wherever there are still gaps in our existing laws, I am working to fill those gaps.

This year, on Whistleblower Appreciation Day, the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus welcomes two new Members: Senators Collins and Hassan.

As chair of the caucus, I am pleased to welcome my colleagues. I look forward to working with these new colleagues and our caucus co-chair, Senator Wyden of Oregon, as we continue our joint effort to make sure the whistleblower laws and protections we have in place next year and the year after are even stronger than the ones that we have in place today.

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