[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 198 (Monday, November 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             INTEL AUTHORIZATION WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTIONS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, on September 23, 2021, I inserted for 
the record an explanation of my intent to hold the Intel Authorization 
Act because I was concerned with changes made to the whistleblower 
protections.
  Specifically, it would have prevented whistleblowers from going to 
any committee that had jurisdiction over the matter they were reporting 
on.
  I was also concerned that this bill could inadvertently overturn 
protections that I authored in 2016 for FBI whistleblowers.
  I have long advocated that whistleblowers should have as many avenues 
as possible to report waste, fraud, and abuse. So I placed a hold and 
made two simple requests: first, that the law permit whistleblowers to 
report wrongdoing to any committee of jurisdiction; and second, that 
language be inserted to clarify that nothing in this bill overturns 
protections guaranteed for FBI whistleblowers under the FBI 
Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act.
  I am happy to report that Chairman Warner and Ranking Member Rubio 
agreed to incorporate these changes into the Intel Authorization Act.
  I would like to take this opportunity to commend both Senators Warner 
and Rubio for their commitment to supporting whistleblowers. Thanks to 
them, Congress is on the verge of passing much needed reforms with 
regard to how whistleblower complaints in the intel community are 
handled. I would also like to thank EMPOWER and the many whistleblower 
advocacy groups that wrote the Senate Intelligence Committee to show 
the need for these changes.
  However, the job is still not done, and the House must agree to 
support these changes. As such, I urge members of the House Permanent 
Select Committee on Intelligence to support these much needed changes.

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