American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Floor Speech

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 -- (House of Representatives - January 28, 2009)

Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of the Amendment offered by Mr. Platts and Mr. Van Hollen, which clarifies and expands whistleblower protections to federal employees and contractors.

In particular, I would like to speak in support of the provision to grant the Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) of the Transportation Security Administration the whistleblower protections they so rightly deserve. Mr. Chairman, our TSOs are not second class citizens and should not be treated as such.

In the 110th Congress, The Committee on Homeland Security worked to give a broad range of rights to TSOs in section 408 of H.R. 1. Whistleblower protections were a key part of this effort. Yet, when it came time to vote on our Conference Report, these protections were stripped from the final product. I amtherefore pleased to stand here today, in full support of this important and long overdue measure.

In 2001, when the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) was created, Congress provided the TSA Administrator the power to set TSO compensation, leave, and other basic employment rights. While this initial vesting authority helped establish TSA, it continues to breed confusion and low marks for management. The time for personnel experiments is now over. TSOs deserve to be treated like every other employee--fairly and equitably.

This amendment takes an important first step to restore the basic rights of the TSO workforce by providing them with the same whistle-blowing rights as other federal workers.

If you do not set up a system where employees are protected, there is a disincentive to report offenses and the system remains inefficient and hinders transportation security. In the end, the American public may end up paying the price in terms of its security.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not remind my colleagues that granting whistleblower rights to TSOs is not the end of our efforts; it must be the beginning of a sustained push for the rights of TSOs, so they are on par with their colleagues. We still have more work to do for the TSO workforce, such as fully providing them with collective-bargaining rights.

Providing basic employment protections and rights is critical to instill confidence in the workforce. These rights go a long way for the morale and the health of the workforce. In fact, earlier this week, an article was published that cited low marks for TSA management by the workforce on recognition and rewards for performance and promotion practices. I am submitting the article for inclusion in the RECORD. We are obligated to provide the most basic labor protections to our front line workers who perform an important job and work to keep us all safe; rights that are afforded to thousands of workers.

As the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, I look forward to working with my colleagues to provide not only these important protections but full rights for this valuable and worthy workforce.

Again, I commend my colleagues today on this important amendment and encourage its passage and inclusion into H.R. 1.

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