[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2572 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2572

To strengthen the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination 
          and Retaliation Act of 2002, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2009

   Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas (for herself and Mr. Moran of Virginia) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
 Oversight and Government Reform, and in addition to the Committee on 
   the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To strengthen the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination 
          and Retaliation Act of 2002, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Disclosures 
Protections Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. ALTERNATIVE REMEDY FOR RETALIATION AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWERS 
              MAKING DISCLOSURES TO CONGRESS.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 72 of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 7212. Alternative remedy
    ``(a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
            ``(1) the term `compensatory damages' means damages awarded 
        to a complaining party for each `action', which shall be 
        synonymous with `cause of action' or `claim', as prescribed by 
        title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1991;
            ``(2) the term `covered disclosure' means a disclosure of 
        information--
                    ``(A) made by an employee to either House of 
                Congress or to a committee or Member or staff thereof; 
                and
                    ``(B) which the employee reasonably believes 
                evidences--
                            ``(i) a violation of any law (including 
                        title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 
                        rule, or regulation; or
                            ``(ii) gross mismanagement, a gross waste 
                        of funds, an abuse of authority, or a 
                        substantial and specific danger to public 
                        health or safety;
            ``(3) the term `employee' means an individual as defined by 
        section 2105 and any other individual, including permanent, 
        temporary, full or part time employees or applicants, 
        independent contractors, medical or other staff, professionals 
        with institutional privileges, individuals paid by temporary 
        services, or individuals performing services for an 
        organization that in whole or in part is a contractor, grantee 
        or other recipient if the United States government provides any 
        portions of the money or property which is requested or 
        demanded; and
            ``(4) the term `interfered with or denied' includes any 
        personnel action in section 2302(a)(2)(A); implementation or 
        enforcement of any nondisclosure policy, form or agreement in 
        violation of this section; and investigation or prosecution of 
        any alleged violation of title 18 provisions other than those 
        prohibiting crimes of violence, moral turpitude or espionage.
    ``(b) Alternative Remedy.--An employee aggrieved by a violation of 
section 7211 with respect to a covered disclosure may within a year of 
the alleged violation bring an action at law and equity in the 
appropriate district court of the United States--
            ``(1) which shall have jurisdiction over such an action 
        without regard to the amount in controversy and which action 
        shall, at the request of any party to such action, be tried by 
        the court with a jury; and
            ``(2) in any proceeding under this subsection, a court--
                    ``(A) shall apply the standards set forth in 
                section 1221(e); and
                    ``(B) shall award triple lost wages, benefits, 
                reinstatement, costs including reasonable expert 
                witness fees, triple attorney fees, triple compensatory 
                damages including emotional distress and lost 
                reputation, and equitable, injunctive, and any other 
                relief that the court considers appropriate.
    ``(c) Choice of Remedies.--Except in the circumstance described in 
subsection (b)(1)(B), the commencement of an action under this 
subsection bars the employee from pursuing (or further pursuing) any 
remedy otherwise available under section 1221 or 7701 with respect to 
the personnel action involved.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 72 of 
title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 7211 the following:

``7212. Alternative remedy.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this Act shall take 
effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply with 
respect to any personnel action (as defined by section 2302(a)(2)(A) of 
title 5, United States Code) occurring on or after such date of 
enactment.

SEC. 3. RIGHT OF REPRESENTATION.

    Section 1212(a) of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (5);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (6) and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(7) upon request, furnish such legal representation as an 
        employee may require in a proceeding in which such employee 
        seeks relief under section 7212 of title 5.''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO NO FEAR ACT.

    Paragraph (3) of section 203(a) of the Notification and Federal 
Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 2301 
note) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(3) the amount of money required to be reimbursed by such 
        agency under section 201 in connection with each of such cases, 
        including for salaries or pay, travel costs, and any other 
        expenses, separately identifying the aggregate amount of such 
        reimbursements attributable to the payment of attorney's fees, 
        if any, and separately identifying the total dollar amount by 
        fiscal year of any reimbursement for which an agency remains 
        liable under section 201;''.
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