Whistleblower Week in Washington

WHISTLEBLOWER WEEK IN WASHINGTON -- (Senate - May 14, 2007)

Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I announced today the kickoff of whistleblower week in Washington. This week, and the events surrounding it, are designed to promote, to celebrate, and to educate Congress and the public about the courage and the patriotism of our whistleblowers. These individuals often risk their careers to expose fraud, waste, and abuse in an effort to protect not only the health and safety of the American people but also the Federal Treasury and taxpayer dollars.

This week's events promoting and celebrating whistleblowers are important for all Members of Congress and for the public as well. By highlighting what whistleblowers do, we provide insight into what it means to be a whistleblower and the important role they play in Government and society.

For over two decades, I have learned from, appreciated, and honored whistleblowers. Congress needs to make a special note of the role that whistleblowers play in helping us to fulfill our constitutional duty of conducting oversight of the executive branch of Government or what we learn in high school government classes called checks and balances.

As a Senator, I have conducted extensive oversight into virtually all aspects of the Federal bureaucracy. Despite the differences in cases from agency to agency and from department to department, one constant remains: the need for information and the need for insight from whistleblowers. This information is vital to effective congressional oversight, the constitutional responsibility of Congress, in addition to legislating.

Documents alone are insufficient when it comes to understanding a dysfunctional bureaucracy. Only whistleblowers can explain why something is wrong and provide the best evidence to prove it. Moreover, only whistleblowers can help us truly understand problems with the culture of Government agencies, because without changing the culture, business as usual is the rule.

Whistleblowers have been instrumental in uncovering $700 being spent on toilet seats in the Department of Defense. These American heroes were also critical in our learning about how the Food and Drug Administration missed the boat and approved Vioxx, how Government contracts were inappropriately steered at the General Services Administration, and how the corporation Enron was cooking the books and ripping off investors. Courageous employees blew the whistle and shed much needed sunlight on the problems that would otherwise never see the light of day.

Similar to all whistleblowers, each whistleblower in these cases demonstrated tremendous courage. They stuck their neck out for the good of all of us. They spoke the truth. They didn't take the easy way out by going along to get along or by looking the other way when they saw that things were wrong and that there was wrongdoing.

The whistleblower whom I call the grandfather of all whistleblowers, Ernie Fitzgerald, of about 30 years of Department of Defense fame as an auditor, says that the only thing that whistleblowers commit--let me say it this way: The only thing that whistleblowers do, and it ends up getting them in trouble is, in his words, ``commit truth.'' For committing truth, then, they are about as welcome as a skunk at a Sunday afternoon picnic with the bureaucracies they are within.

I have said it for many years without avail, and it probably will not be of avail, that I would like to see the President of the United States--and I have said this to four different Presidents--have a Rose Garden ceremony honoring whistleblowers. This would send a message from the very top of the bureaucracy, which is the Presidency of the United States, and to the bottom of the bureaucracy about the importance and value of whistleblowers.

They deserve this attention, and we all ought to be grateful for what they do and appreciate the very difficult circumstances they often have to endure to do whistleblowing--or as Fitzgerald says, ``committing truth''--because in the end they sacrifice their family's finances, oftentimes their employability, and the attempts by powerful interest groups to actually smear their good names and good intentions.

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak at a panel that gathered to discuss the plight of whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These individuals discussed the hurdles they face in exposing the truth--or, according to Fitzgerald, ``committing truth.'' Further, they discussed the lengths at which some bureaucrats will go to prevent the truth from getting out.

Unfortunately, these former agents also discussed a culture that keeps problems internal and the circling of wagons within the bureaucracy when
things go wrong. Oftentimes, this culture ``shoots'' the whistleblower instead of addressing the problem.

Mr. President, retaliation against whistleblowers should not be tolerated. We have an obligation to ensure that those who retaliate are punished. Congress has recognized the need to protect whistleblowers, and I have used my experience working with whistleblowers to promote legislation that protects them from retaliation--legislation such as the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the False Claims Act.

These acts all recognize the benefits of whistleblowers and offer protection to those seeking to uncover the truth. For example, whistleblowers have used the False Claims Act to help the Federal Government recover nearly $20 billion since Congress passed my amendments in 1986. I think the deterrent effect--if you can quantify it--would be many times the $20 billion of hard cash that has actually come back into the Federal Treasury. These laws I gave are a good step. However, our work in this field is unfinished and more can be done.

The next step in protecting whistleblowers was filed in January and is currently pending before this body. It is S. 274, the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act, which will provide much needed updates to Federal whistleblower protections. I am proud to be an original cosponsor of S. 274 and believe the Senate should move this important legislation. Unfortunately, this bill was introduced but not addressed in the last Congress. It is my hope this Chamber will act on S. 274 and improve the protections for whistleblowers.

I urge all of my colleagues to join in support of S. 274 and swiftly move this important legislation to help protect whistleblowers further than present law does. I also urge all of my colleagues to attend the events that are occurring all week to help celebrate whistleblowers, point out that this is an important tool in the checks and balances of our Government, and all that whistleblowers have done to benefit the work of Congress and, more important, all they have done to make America safer, stronger, a better nation, and to make sure we get our dollars' worth for the taxpayers' dollars.

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