[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 185 (Friday, December 18, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S8876]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          NOMINATION OBJECTION

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I am taking this opportunity to notice my 
objection to the Senate proceeding to the nomination of Janine Anne 
Davidson of Virginia to be Under Secretary of the Navy. My concern is 
not with Ms. Davidson's nomination, per se, but with a larger matter 
concerning the Navy and its policies and practices with regard to 
retaliation against whistleblowers.
  On October 21, 2015, the Washington Post reported that the Navy plans 
to promote RDML Brian L. Losey, even though the Department of Defense 
Office of Inspector General, OIG, has found on multiple occasions that 
he retaliated against perceived whistleblowers in response to 
whistleblower complaints and, in some cases, simply the belief that 
such complaints had been made. According to the article, the OIG has 
reported that Rear Admiral Losey went so far as to make a list of 
suspected whistleblowers and intentionally target them for discipline, 
demotion, and internal investigation. In several instances, the OIG 
recommended personnel action be taken against Rear Admiral Losey for 
these actions. However, the Navy appears poised to ignore those 
findings and promote Rear Admiral Losey.
  On November 13, 2015, I joined with seven other Senators, both 
Democrats and Republicans, in a request to Jon T. Rymer, the inspector 
general for the Department of Defense, for the OIG investigation 
reports related to Rear Admiral Losey's conduct. Those reports were 
provided to me and to the other Senators signing the November 13 letter 
just 3 days ago, on December 15, 2015, in redacted form.
  Until I have had an opportunity to thoroughly review the inspector 
general's findings related to Rear Admiral Losey and until I have 
received assurances from the Navy that it will address those findings 
specifically and has policies in place to sanction retaliation against 
whistleblowers more broadly, I will object to the Senate proceeding 
with the Davidson nomination.
  (At the request of Mr. Lee, the following statement was ordered to be 
printed in the Record.)

                          ____________________