[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 124 (Tuesday, July 30, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5576-S5577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     WHISTLEBLOWER APPRECIATION DAY

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, today is the day of the whistleblower.
  But every day should be the day of the whistleblower.
  I have asked every President since Ronald Reagan to hold a Rose 
Garden ceremony to honor whistleblowers. No President has done so.
  That is a shame because Presidents should view whistleblowers as 
making their job easier not more difficult. It is often the 
whistleblower who gives the unvarnished truth relating to government 
misconduct. And once that misconduct is known, it can be taken care of.
  When fraud and waste are exposed, the executive branch should bend 
over backwards to eliminate it. Instead, the executive branch often 
stupidly attacks the whistleblowers for courageously putting themselves 
out there.
  And for those in the FBI like Marcus Allen, retaliation is holding 
your security clearance hostage.
  Let me give some other recent examples. Department of Homeland 
Security whistleblowers alerted me of this administration's failure to 
implement the DNA Fingerprint Act. This failure allowed migrants with 
criminal histories to enter the United States unchecked, putting our 
communities at risk. The Department of Homeland Security has violated 
Federal law. The Office of Special Counsel substantiated the 
allegations and the retaliation against the whistleblowers for their 
disclosures. On July 23 this year, I held an oversight roundtable to 
highlight the whistleblower disclosures and the resulting retaliation 
they have suffered.
  Whistleblowers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and 
Explosives brought to light that the Agency wasted millions of taxpayer 
dollars. How so? The ATF illegally misclassified human resource 
positions as law enforcement and paid these employees enhanced benefits 
they weren't entitled to.
  Whistleblowers also provided my office with records revealing the 
Department of Health and Human Services failed to vet sponsors for 
unaccompanied alien children. They provided detail never before known 
to the public. On July 9 this year, I held an oversight roundtable with 
some of these whistleblowers, giving them a public voice to share their 
stories for the benefit of these kids. Agencies just don't like being 
exposed, apparently even if the lives of children are on the line. We 
have to change that culture.
  Whistleblowers recently provided me with internal FBI documents of 
State Department incompetence and obstruction. Specifically, documents 
show the State Department actively interfered with FBI operations. For 
example, the State Department prevented the FBI from arresting known 
terrorists, members of Iranian proliferation networks, and other 
criminals providing material support for Iran's nuclear and ballistic 
missile programs. The Department did this because it didn't want the 
FBI's arrest of the Iranians to upset the pending Iran Nuclear Deal. I 
made these FBI documents public on May 21, 2024, to prove the facts of 
the matter.
  And most recently, I have made records and video public relating to 
the Trump assassination attempt. I obtained those records from local 
law enforcement officers, not the Federal Government. The information 
that I have made public is usually because of whistleblowers.
  The government rarely provides information to Congress upon request. 
Simply put, that is a slap in the face to

[[Page S5577]]

not just Congress but the American people. Accordingly, it is 
critically important that all Federal Agencies promote openness and 
transparency. They must also ensure Federal employees know their rights 
to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, including to Congress.
  That is why I have fought hard to ensure Federal Agencies include the 
anti-gag provision as required by law. That provision is a notice to 
employees of their rights to disclose waste, fraud, abuse, and 
misconduct to Congress, an inspector general, and the Office of Special 
Counsel.
  For example, the ATF failed to include this notification in guidance 
sent to their employees. I demanded they issue updated guidance, which 
they subsequently did. Further, in March of this year, I wrote to all 
74 inspectors general requesting they conduct a review of their 
Agency's nondisclosure policy, forms, and similar agreements to ensure 
it includes the anti-gag provision as required by law.
  The task of supporting whistleblowers doesn't start and stop on 
Whistleblower Appreciation Day. It is a full time, year-round job. Last 
year, I talked about the legislation I have introduced this Congress to 
do just that, from the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower 
Reform Act to the False Claims Amendment Act to the IRS Whistleblower 
Program Improvement Act and others.
  Whistleblowers are brave men and women who perform an invaluable 
public service. Whistleblowers must be protected; they are patriots. 
Dating back to the Revolutionary War, the first whistleblowers reported 
fraud and misconduct. Our Founding Fathers knew the importance of 
rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
  As I stand here today in July 2024--a long way's away from the 
Revolutionary War--the same sentiment remains. I am proud to have 
introduced the National Whistleblower Appreciation Day resolution for 
the 11th year in a row on behalf of the entire Senate Whistleblower 
Protection Caucus.
  And I will tell you this again:
  One day, all of us together, we are going to get that Rose Garden 
ceremony.

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