House Passes Bipartisan Whistleblower Legislation

Statement

Today Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen issued the following statement on House passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2010, which was introduced by Congressman Van Hollen (D-MD) and Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA) in 111th Congress:

"Today the House passed, by unanimous consent, the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2010. Whistleblowers risk their careers to challenge abuses and gross waste of government resources. They deserve to be protected so they can carry out their important work conscientiously and with the taxpayers' best interests in mind. By providing new rights, remedies, and protections for government whistleblowers, this bill increases accountability and takes an important step toward curbing waste, fraud, and abuse.

"This bill, as passed by the Senate, included important protections for national security employees. These provisions had been included with significant input from the national security community and passed the Senate by unanimous consent. Unfortunately, jurisdictional disputes within the House have prompted us to remove these protections in the interest of passing the rest of these essential reforms. I regret the loss of these provisions and look forward to working with incoming Chairman Issa to advance these protections for national security employees in the next Congress.

"I want to thank my cosponsor and partner on this bill, Congressman Todd Platts, for his assistance and strong leadership. I also want to thank Chairman Towns, Ranking Member Issa, Congressman Waxman, and Congressman Braley for their strong support throughout this Congress to advance this important legislation, and Senator Akaka and others who have worked so hard on this bill in the Senate -- it is long overdue. Without whistleblowers and the unfiltered information that government insiders can provide, the oversight functions vested in Congress would be seriously compromised, as would our efforts to promote greater accountability. I urge its swift passage in the Senate."

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