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Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I don't know how many years in a row I have been doing this, but this week in July, I always come to the Senate floor to honor whistleblowers.

I expect this week that the Senate will unanimously pass my resolution designating this Saturday, July 30, as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. This year the resolution has 21 cosponsors from both sides of the aisle, more cosponsors than this resolution has had ever before. Now, that should serve as a very important reminder that protecting and celebrating whistleblowers is not a partisan issue. It is just as simple as it being good government.

This Congress, I have been working on several pieces of whistleblower legislation that also have bipartisan support. One of those bills, which I introduced last December along with Senators Warren and Warnock, relates to money laundering. In 2020, Congress established the first-ever anti-money-laundering whistleblower program. Under this reward-based program, whistleblowers who provide actionable information to the government that exposes money laundering may receive a percentage of the funds recovered as a result of their disclosure.

While that is an important step forward, the current program has its issues. First, there is no minimum award amount, so the government isn't obligated to pay a whistleblower anything at all, even if the information that the whistleblower provides leads to a successful enforcement action. Second, the program doesn't provide the Treasury Department with a mechanism to pay whistleblowers and, instead, relies on yearly congressional appropriations.

My bill addresses these issues. It raises the cap on whistleblower rewards from 25 to 30 percent, and it sets a 10-percent base minimum on rewards to ensure that if the government collects as a result of the whistleblower's disclosure, the whistleblower isn't left holding the short end of the stick. It also establishes a funding mechanism to ensure that the Treasury Department has funds readily available to pay whistleblowers independent of congressional appropriations.

These improvements will ensure that whistleblowers have the confidence to come forward and assist law enforcement in cracking down on money laundering.

The bill also expands the whistleblower disclosures that are eligible for the award. Current whistleblower laws don't offer anything to whistleblowers who report violations of sanctions against individuals. That would include sanctions placed on Russian oligarchs following Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. That is a missed opportunity. I have it on good authority that there are some whistleblowers who might have come forward to report sanction violations associated with the Russians if only the reward system were in place to cover their disclosure. My bill fills the gap by expanding the list of covered disclosures to include sanctions violations.

Another bill which I am introducing this week strengthens the FBI whistleblower protections. For years, the FBI has argued that the FBI and the Justice Department should retain tight control over FBI whistleblower-retaliation cases. The FBI has its own separate whistleblower law that leaves authority for settling FBI whistleblower- retaliation complaints to the FBI and to the Department of Justice.

The bill that I introduce will allow FBI employees to appeal their whistleblower retaliation cases to the Merit Systems Protection Board. This bill gives them outside review by a neutral third party. The bill also includes a kickout provision. That will mean that, if the FBI doesn't act in a timely manner, the whistleblower can take their cases straight to the Merit Systems Protection Board.

This bipartisan bill is cosponsored by Senators Durbin, Hawley, Whitehouse, and Blackburn. I want to thank each of those cosponsors for their support.

Those are just two of several legislative initiatives before Congress that will ensure whistleblowers remain protected. I urge Congress to consider and pass this legislation before the end of the year. Support for whistleblowers is something that we can all get behind. It can and should unite every Member of the Congress who believes government needs to remain transparent and accountable to people. This week, I encourage my fellow Senators to remember that important fact.

Let's renew our shared commitment to strengthening the Nation's whistleblower laws by taking up and passing this important whistleblower legislation. H.R. 4346

Madam President, now on another subject--and it is the subject that is before the Senate right now that I assume will be brought up for final action yet this week--which is the vote on a stripped-down China competition package.

Now, gone is language combating China's unfair trade practices. Gone are provisions preventing fentanyl and narcotics from entering the country. Gone is my proposal to stop subsidizing China through the low- cost World Bank loans. Gone are provisions that I championed preventing the flood of counterfeit Chinese merchandise. And gone are condemnations of the Chinese Communist Party for the ongoing genocide of the Uighur minority.

Last year, I supported an earlier version of this bill, in large part because it included these very tough-on-China policies that I just mentioned are missing from this piece of legislation that the Senate will soon be voting on. But now these policies are out, and more spending is in.

It includes more than $76 billion of subsidies earmarked for a single industry: the semiconductor manufacturers. Semiconductors, or chips, are important, but that doesn't mean that we should write these companies a blank check. If incentives to encourage more semiconductor investment in the United States are necessary, they should be targeted.

I understand the national security concerns, but simply mentioning the words ``national security'' isn't the end of the discussion.

Proponents must show how these subsidies will accomplish their objectives. These subsidies are not targeted at domestic production of the advanced chips produced almost exclusively by our allies in Asia. Furthermore, these subsidies fail to include adequate safeguards to prevent companies receiving subsidies from turning around and--you know what?--possibly investing in China.

A lot has changed since Congress began talking about these subsidies more than a year ago, and the Senate passed this bill a long, long time ago. According to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial, the semiconductor industry has already announced $80 billion of U.S. investment by 2025. Moreover, there is growing evidence that a chip glut is down the road, coming along.

Yet, instead of looking to trim back or better target the subsidies, this bill actually doubles down on corporate welfare. This bill now includes an expansive tax credit that will subsidize semiconductor manufacturers to the tune of about $24 billion.

In total, American taxpayers will pay up to 40 percent of the cost of a semiconductor facility. That means individual companies are in line to receive billions in taxpayer funds. For example, Intel has announced plans for a $20 billion facility. Taxpayers will write a check from a low of $4 billion to possibly a high of an $8 billion check for this one facility.

I am dumbfounded that my Democratic colleagues can justify this, and I say that because President Biden and his allies in Congress rant and rave about profitable corporations paying little or no tax. And yet, under this bill, some of the largest and most profitable companies in the world are poised to pay zero tax.

In fact, unlike typical tax credits that reduce a company's tax bill, this one will allow a company to receive the credit as a cash payment, exceeding any taxes that that company might pay.

Outside of Senator Sanders, Senate Democrats seem very unconcerned with making these large profitable corporations--as you hear them say all the time--``pay their fair share.''

I hope that they keep this in mind when liberal groups inevitably point to more profitable multinationals not paying taxes. Don't try then and blame Republicans or the 2017 tax bill, which has resulted in record revenues coming into the Federal Treasury. In fact, the 2017 tax bill should be the model for how we should be competing with China. Instead of targeting specific industries for lavish subsidies, we reformed our Tax Code to eliminate special interest loopholes while helping all industries compete on a global scale, including against China.

A competitive tax code, pro-growth policies, and rule of law allow Americans to do what Americans do best, and that is innovate. That is how we will outcompete China.

In contrast, onshoring wasteful and inefficient Chinese industrial policies will only stifle innovation and weaken our dynamic economy, which is our great advantage.

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