Press Conference: Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act - Transcript
Press Conference
PRESS CONFERENCE WITH REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD), DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ENHANCEMENT ACT
ALSO PRESENT: REP. BRUCE BRALEY (D-IA); REP. ED TOWNS (D-NY); REP. TODD PLATTS (R-PA)
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REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, let me thank all of you for joining us today, as we reintroduce the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, legislation that has passed the Congress in previous sessions and also passed by unanimous consent, in the form of an amendment, on the economic recovery bill, and of course did not make it all the way through the process.
You're going to be hearing from my colleagues as well. The chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr. Towns, is here. You're going to be hearing from him; Bruce Braley, who has also been a champion of open and transparent government. You're going to be hearing from him.
Mr. Platts is on the way. And I just want to say, even before he gets here, that this is something he's been working on, for a very long time. And it's great to -- for us to have been a partner with him, in this effort, and Mr. Waxman, who can't join us right now but of course has been a champion of this legislation.
I think especially with the passage of the economy recovery bill but even before that, of course, it's absolutely essential that we put in place provisions and protections, for individuals who are willing to come forward and report waste and abuse when they see it.
And obviously our federal employees are on the front lines of different federal agencies. They're going to be very involved in spending the monies from the economic recovery plan as well as every year spending the funds, taxpayer funds, in the ongoing operations of the government.
As part of the economic recovery bill, we increased protections for whistleblowers, at the local level and at the state level, which is why we thought it was absolutely appropriate that we also enhance protections for whistleblowers at the federal level.
And while we didn't get that through in the economic recovery package, we're here today to say we'll be introducing that legislation to ensure that national security whistleblowers are protected. There's absolutely no reason, if somebody who's already received a top-secret clearance, somebody who's already been determined by our government to meet all the security requirements, if that individual sees waste, fraud or abuse, we have to have a mechanism for that person, that individual to report it without fear of retribution and firing. And this increases those protections.
It's also clear that we should be protecting whistleblowers of contractors. I mean, after all, contractors get hundreds and millions -- billions of dollars of taxpayer funds. And it's important that they feel that they can come forward and report waste, fraud and abuse, again, to protect the taxpayer.
Scientific whistleblowers -- this is a category that has not been adequately protected, but where the integrity of the scientific process is violated, we think that's a reasonable area for whistleblower protection.
And then, again, just to expand the access of whistleblower protections to the judicial process, so they get a fair hearing and people are not penalized for coming forward and telling the truth. We want to encourage people to come forward and tell the truth where they see wrongdoing, rather than have them live in fear of retaliation.
That's the very simple principle behind that legislation. We believe that principle will provide greater transparency and accountability and protect the taxpayer.
With that, I'm going to turn the podium over to the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and thank him for his long-time support for this legislation and for his willingness to take up this bill and so we can get it through.
REP. TOWNS: Thank you very much. And let me say that I'm so delighted in fact that it's bipartisan, that we're moving forward. And I think that's always important, in that when we see something that's wrong, you know, to try and make it right.
I'm pleased to join my colleagues today, of course, in supporting this legislation.
Whistleblower protection is a critical component of government accountability. At a time when America needs the best value for every dollar spent, we need the protection now more than ever, and particularly now that billions of stimulus dollars and billions more aimed at stabilizing the financial system are at stake.
The legislation will ensure that federal employees responsible for monitoring the financial recovery programs are not deterred from reporting any mismanagement of taxpayer dollars.
These employees -- our federal auditors, inspectors and actuaries -- are best positioned to call attention to illegal waste in government operations. On a day-to-day basis, they witness what is happening inside our government and are best suited to root out misconduct or waste. But under the present system, employees can be fired or disciplined for disclosing evidence of waste, fraud or abuse if an administrative judge determines it was part of their job to do so. That's contrary to the whole point of the whistleblower law.
We need to encourage our federal auditors, our safety inspectors, and other employees to perform their roles effectively and with the public interest in mind. And they need to be able to do so without fear of retaliation. This important legislation takes a landmark step in that direction.
Importantly, the legislation also extends strong whistleblower protections to employees of government contractors. Congress wisely included similar protections for private recipients of stimulus funds. However, no similar safeguards -- was included when Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act or the bailout last fall.
This bill will extend the right to disclose waste, fraud and abuse without fear of retaliation to employees all -- of all government contractors, including those whose companies accepted contracts for bailout funding. The Oversight Committee has documented the accountability and transparency shortcomings of the TARP program, and we will continue to do so. However, this legislation provides an immediate accountability fix to that program.
Lastly, the whistleblower protections are important not only in safeguarding America's tax dollars; we need them also to better protect our families. Towards that end, we have worked closely with the House Intelligence Committee in drafting strong whistleblower protections for national security personnel. The House overwhelmingly passed similar bipartisan legislation in 2007. It was adopted again by the House without dissent earlier this year as part of the stimulus legislation but was unfortunately removed in conference. We need to finish the job for the American taxpayers and our families.
As chairman of the committee of House -- Oversight and Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleagues here.
And of course, I look forward to working with them to enact this good government legislation without delay. You can count on my support and my involvement in making certain that we get rid of waste, fraud and abuse.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: As I said, Congressman Platts has been working this issue for a very long time. As the chairman said, this has been a bipartisan issue. And I just want to thank him for his leadership and ask him to come up.
REP. PLATTS: Thank you, Chris. Sorry for the late arrival, coming from a hearing in education. Delighted to join with my chairman, Chairman Towns, as well as Representatives Van Hollen and Braley, and being part of this important team.
This is an issue that we began about five years back with then- Oversight Committee Ranking Member Waxman and Chairman Davis, then- Chairman Waxman and Ranking Member Davis, now Chairman Towns, Chris and others, to really try to do right by federal employees who are courageous in their efforts to come forward and, when they see wrongdoing, report that wrongdoing and look out for the best interests of the American public. And that's what this really is about, whether it's waste, fraud, misconduct within the federal agencies.
Unfortunately, despite the efforts of Congress over now several decades, the courts have not ensured that the protections intended by Congress are in place and available to federal employees. And the courts have, in my opinion, clearly and openly ignored the states -- the law as it's stated and eroded the protections given federal employees.
And so what we're trying to do is ensure that the intent of Congress -- that the law is upheld to, you know, reinforce what that laws is, those protections are, and to address some of the problems that have come up in recent years; specifically, the monopoly jurisdiction of the federal circuit here in Washington. We need to break that monopoly to get a diverse opinion of the court that will ultimately allow us to get to the Supreme Court if need be to protect the rights of -- with federal whistleblowers.
The standard of proof required is outrageous, and it's really something that a typical whistleblower can't prove that they acted in the proper manner when it comes to being contested.
So what we're trying to do is really ensure that federal employees know that, if they see wrongdoing and they come forward, that they're going to be protected and not at risk of losing their job or not getting promotion, or other disciplinary action, for doing the right thing for the American public.
The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act is a critically important piece of legislation, because it reaches across every aspect of what the federal government does. And, you know, the new administration has talked much about improving the efficiency of the federal government, making sure we're doing better with the taxpayer funds. And this is one of the cornerstones to achieving that effort, is passing the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.
And again, I'm honored to be with my colleagues. This is a bipartisan -- or a nonpartisan issue. This is simply about doing right by courageous federal employees who see wrongdoing, are willing to come forward, and make sure that they -- that, you know, they are rightfully protected for acting in good fashion on behalf of the American people.
So with that, I'm going to turn it over to our colleague from Iowa, the honorable Bruce Braley. And appreciate again being part of this team.
Thank you.
REP. BRALEY: Well, thank you, Todd.
It's an honor for me to be here with my friends and colleagues on a project that we've worked so hard on together. And one of the things that's important to understand is, when we introduced the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement bill in the 110th Congress, it was a living, working document that came through the committee and had input from members on both sides that, in my opinion, resulted in a vast improvement over existing whistleblower protection. And you've heard my colleagues talk about that.
But I think to emphasize how important this is, as I was walking in here today, CNN was on and Suzanne Malveaux was standing in front of the White House, and there was a little caption right below her that said, "Spend the Money Wisely: President Speaking on Stimulus Spending." And that's why we're here today, and that's why we worked so hard to try to get this in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, because we all knew that this was passed overwhelmingly in the House in the 110th Congress with over 300 votes, which shows the bipartisan nature of this bill.
And one of the reasons that I offered amendments to strengthen the protections to individual whistleblowers is because we all know, all of us standing here, that the most effective way to deter retaliation against whistleblowers is to provide consequences that will be an inhibiting factor.
And as my friend, Todd Platts, pointed out, this is a nonpartisan issue.
My constituent and my friend Chuck Grassley has worked tirelessly to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. So this is not something that should be a partisan obstacle, unlike many of the challenges we face.
So that's why I'm excited to be here. I was honored to be floor manager for this bill when it passed out of the House in the 110th Congress.
I look forward to working with my colleagues to point out that this is something that is going to benefit every American taxpayer, and you don't need to look any further than someone who went to college in my district, Coleen Rowley, Time Magazine's person of the year for the whistle-blowing that she did at a critical time in our country's national security history. And we need to do more to protect national security employees like Coleen Rowley and encourage them to do the right thing and disclose information that will allow us to do the better job of protecting American taxpayers.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: We'd be happy to try and answer any questions that you have.
Yeah?
Q Mr. Van Hollen, just to take sort of the devil's advocate role here, some of the rap on whistle-blowers is that in some cases they are federal employees who have a grudge or an axe to grind about something or someone that they don't like in the workplace. So how does the bill address that and still do some of the things that you'd like it to do?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, the whole idea behind the bill is just to ensure these individuals have a fair hearing behind -- you know, in front of an impartial judge or decision-maker who's going to look at all the facts and make the decision. As my colleagues have said, the current system is actually stacked against them, limiting their access to the courts, and also creating burdens of proof that are just so insurmountable that even where there is wrongdoing judges aren't able to find that.
And so the very simple answer to the question is these decisions are going to be made by impartial individuals who can hear all the facts and make a determination on their own as to what the motivation is. But right now, the problem is -- as others have said -- is that the system deters the truth from getting out and prevents the full truth from getting out.
Q Congressman Van Hollen, one of your colleagues mentioned the president's message on the stimulus today. The president and the vice president were talking about -- (off mike) -- the money. How worried are you about -- (off mike) -- given the amount of money -- (off mike)? And -- (off mike) -- doesn't it undermine confidence -- spending this kind of money?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, as -- and jump in, anybody. I'll just make a few comments on this. But as Bruce Braley mentioned, the president was very clear today. He's been very clear in the past when the governors have come together, when the mayors have come together, as to the importance of making sure that these monies are spent in a way that's transparent and accountable, because the president understands, as do all of us, that in order to retain and maintain the confidence of the American people, they have to believe and know that their taxpayer monies are being expended wisely. And that is why oversight is important.
But you can't just have -- you should increase the number of inspector generals, and the president has proposed that. But the whistleblower protections give you the benefit of all the people, all the federal employees who are involved in these decisions, and freedom to come forth and blow the whistle.
Let me invite my colleagues up on that.
REP. TOWNS: Yes. And also, you know, oversight is very, very important, and this is part of that process, in terms of -- and that -- we will be doing a lot of that. We will go from city to city, you know, looking to see in terms of if the money is going where it's supposed to go and doing what we expected it to do.
And of course the whistleblowers -- we want to make certain that they're not intimidated, that they're able to come forward with information that might be helpful, because here again we're talking about the taxpayers and that if you find there's something going on, that there's waste and there's fraud, then of course the taxpayers are paying for that. And that's our obligation, responsibility to make certain that that does not occur.
Q Can I just follow up? You said you wanted -- (off mike). Are you planning to send committee investigators to follow -- (off mike)?
REP. TOWNS: The committee itself will be going. We will be going. The committee will be going.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Ed?
REP. : And the -- you know, the point that both my colleagues mentioned with -- the oversight inspector generals play a critical role here, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee does. But you need a basis of information for the IGs or the committee to act.
And what this bill -- and Chris, you really touched on it -- this is saying to every federal employee, "We want to know if you see wrongdoing." Because if they are able to feel comfortable that they come forward to their IG and say, hey, you know -- and whether it's part of the stimulus package or, you know, annual spending, whatever it may be that they come forward to the IG and report something, that they're not going to be at risk of discipline for doing the right thing.
Or to our committee -- if the -- if the committee has federal employees who come forward and share information, that allows us then to do our duty as an oversight committee to then pursue those -- that information, those possible misuses of funds, or whatever it may be.
But, you know, unless you have that information base coming in, it's hard to do oversight for the IGs or for the committee. And, you know, this empowers every federal employee and says not only are you no longer deterred, but you're -- you know, we're saying we will protect you if you come forward, which has been the intent of Congress in the '80s, you know, again in the '90s. And now, unfortunately, the reason we're here, probably more than any other reason, is the courts have undone what Congress has sought to do in the past.
And, you know, that's the reason that we're here, trying to correct the wrongdoing, in my opinion, of the courts, especially the federal circuit, in how they've, you know, diminished the protections that are intended to be out there. And that federal employee needs to know that they're safe in coming forward. And if they do, we can then help to do our job as Oversight Committee.
REP. BRALEY: If I could just briefly respond to your concern, one of the things that happened last week is that the GAO announced 16 states they're going to be analyzing to see that the stimulus money is achieving the intended result. And Iowa was one of those states.
So today, in conjunction with this press conference and the introduction -- reintroduction of the bill, we added a link on the homepage of our website called "Waste Watchdog." And it's got a button with a picture of a bulldog on it. And what we're doing is we're encouraging constituents and taxpayers in Iowa and in the 1st District to report to my office any information they have about potential waste, fraud and abuse so that we can, in turn, report that to the committee, Chairman Towns, and to any appropriate federal agency or state agency or local agency, after we do our normal screening of those concerns and make sure that they are legitimate and have merit.
So that's one example of, I think, what we'll be doing as we all try to help our constituents prepare for the oversight responsibility that we all share.
Q (Off mike) -- but this bill has failed to pass Senate when the House -- (off mike) -- in the stimulus bill. What do you plan to do to win support there? And who do you think will help you there?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Well, I think we've already reached out collectively to the Senate side. I think, once we get this bill back over there, we'll have a better chance this time.
Some of the arguments that were made on the Senate side during conference was that the vehicle that we chose, the economic recovery package, was not the appropriate vehicle, that this should be, you know, taken up on its own merits.
We thought it was actually a very appropriate vehicle, because it was an additional $790 billion of taxpayer dollars that were being spent outside the normal course. And we believe these protections should be in place any time, but we thought that there couldn't be a more appropriate moment to try to push this through than that bill.
But so far, I think, based on what we're hearing, we think there's a very decent chance of getting this through.
Q Are the national security provisions still an issue, do you think?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: We -- you want to take that?
REP. PLATTS: Yeah, we sought to address when we -- when we brought it to the floor in the House, we did hear concerns from the Intelligence Committee of the House. And we've sought to address those concerns in the way we're reintroducing it.
It's not identical to the last session, and specifically in the area of national security, to further -- to ensure that national security-related federal employees have an avenue to report what they see, including to Congress and to the appropriate committee. But we've tightened that up, as to the committees that customarily would receive that type of information. So it's not kind of opening, you know, the entire barn door to who can get that information, to be cognizant of the concern that classified information does need to be treated in a more sensitive manner than, you know, general operations.
So I know -- you know, that language we have in there we hope will address that concern. You know -- but, you know, bottom line, this is a work in progress. And as we go forward, if we still miss something, you know, we're glad to hear from Chairman Reyes and Ranking Member Hoekstra on the Intelligence Committee and how we can work with them, you know, to get this legislation through the House, Senate, to the president's desk.
And as Bruce referenced, you know, there are important reasons why national security employees need to be part of this, because they, you know, play a critical role in the operation of our government. And if they see wrongdoing, they need to have a good avenue to come forward as well.
Q Thank you.
Q Is it too soon to ask, sir, if you've had a chance to count heads on votes for this bill? And will the chairman be scheduling a hearing on this bill anytime soon?
REP. VAN HOLLEN: I'm going to, obviously, defer to the chairman on that one. (Laughs, laughter.)
REP. TOWNS: On the -- on the -- on the counting of heads, I'll let him talk about that one. But, no, there's no question about it. We do plan to have a hearing on this.
We think this is very, very important, and for a lot of reasons, I mean -- and, of course, I don't have to go into all of them. But let's face it, that if there's money being wasted, you know, I'm concerned about that. And I think the American people are concerned about it.
We want to make certain that the dollars go where they're supposed to go and do the kind of things that they're supposed to do.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: And counting heads, we've had --
REP. PLATTS: Yes, we had 334, I think. And, you know, on the House side, you know, I think we're in great shape. It went on voice vote, you know, when we had it as an amendment on the stimulus package, you know, where -- I think the Senate make-up has changed significantly.
And as Chris referenced, the main objection -- while we thought it was very appropriate to have it in the stimulus bill, we understood the Senate thought it should be separate. But, you know, there's a different make-up of the Senate membership over there. And hopefully, you know, we're going to have a good head-count at the end of the day in the Senate -- again, maybe not identical to our bill. But, you know, we're glad to work with them to get to where we need to be and a final bill that we can get to the president.
Q Is the goal to get the bill passed before the recovery funds start getting spent? Or is that kind of --
REP. VAN HOLLEN: The goal is to get the bill through just as fast as possible, which is, you know, why the chairman says he wants to -- (off mike).
REP. TOWNS: Right. Yes, right. We plan to have a hearing as soon as we can and, of course, try to move it, because, let's face it, you know, this is important. And of course, the money is going to be out there, and we have to make certain that we do whatever we can to make certain that it's spent properly.
REP. BRALEY: Can I just offer a comment? I think the American taxpayer should be flooding our offices, demanding fast action on this bill. We all sat in a hearing where we were talking about the loss of $11 billion in cash in Iraq, and we saw photographs of pallets of $200 million of cash in each shipment that are unaccounted for to this day. So this is an urgent matter, that American taxpayers should unite in a bipartisan way and demand Congress act.
And that's why we're here today. This is a call to action, and we want to be part of motivating people to help get this bill to President Obama's desk.
REP. VAN HOLLEN: Thank you all very much for being here today.
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