[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 11 (Monday, January 29, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Page S653]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. WARNER:
  S. 201. A bill to require that Federal agencies be accountable for 
violations of antidiscrimination and whistleblower protection laws, and 
for other purposes; to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Federal 
Employee Protection Act of 2001. This bill will significantly 
strengthen existing laws protecting federal employees from 
discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in the workplace. It is an 
unfortunate fact that too many federal employees are subjected to such 
treatment with alarming regularity.
  My bill will result in a more productive work environment by ensuring 
agencies enforce the laws intended to protect federal employees from 
harassment, discrimination and retaliation for whistleblowing.
  The Federal Employee Protection Act contains three main provisions: 
No. 1, when agencies lose judgments or make settlements in harassment, 
discrimination and whistleblower cases, the responsible Federal agency 
would pay any financial penalty out of its own budget, rather than out 
of a general Federal judgment fund; No. 2, Federal agencies are 
required to notify their employees about any applicable discrimination, 
harassment and whistleblower protection laws; and No. 3, each Federal 
agency is required to send an annual report to Congress and the 
Attorney General listing: the number of cases in which an agency was 
alleged to have violated any of the discrimination, harassment or 
whistleblower statutes; the disposition of each of these cases; the 
total of all monetary awards charged against the agency from these 
cases; and the number of agency employees disciplined for 
discrimination or harassment or retaliation. Additionally, the Federal 
Employee Protection Act requires each Federal agency to submit a one-
time report to Congress and the Attorney General that includes the same 
information required for the annual reports going back for the last ten 
years. This report will provide a historical perspective to help 
evaluate current agency behavior.

  Under current law, agencies are not accountable financially when they 
lose harassment, discrimination and retaliation cases because any 
financial penalties are paid out of a government-wide fund and not the 
agency's budget. I firmly believe that because there is no financial 
consequence to their actions, Federal agencies are essentially able to 
escape responsibility when they fail to comply with the law and are 
unresponsive to their employees' concerns.
  Reports of Federal agencies being indifferent or hostile to 
complaints of sexual harassment and racial discrimination undermine the 
ability of the Federal Government to enforce civil rights laws and 
hamper efforts to recruit talented individuals for Federal employment. 
The Federal Government must set an example for the private sector by 
promoting a workplace that does not tolerate harassment or 
discrimination of any kind and that encourages employees to report 
illegal activity and mismanagement without fear of reprisal.
  I believe the Federal Employee Protection Act of 2001 will give 
Federal employees the protections they need to perform their jobs 
effectively and will give the taxpayers a government with more 
accountability. I urge my colleagues to support this important 
legislation.

                          ____________________