[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 24, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3320-S3321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 6115. Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Coons) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4784, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the appropriate place, insert the following:
SEC. __. ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTION FOR AI WHISTLEBLOWERS.
(a) Prohibition Against Retaliation.--No employer may,
directly or indirectly, discharge, demote, suspend, threaten,
blacklist, harass, or in any other manner discriminate
against a covered individual in the terms and conditions of
employment or post-employment of the covered individual (or,
in the case of a covered individual who is not an employee,
the terms and conditions of work or post-work of the covered
individual) because of any lawful act done by the covered
individual--
(1) in providing information regarding an AI violation, or
any conduct that the covered individual reasonably believes
constitutes an AI violation, to--
(A) the appropriate regulatory official or the Attorney
General;
(B) a regulatory or law enforcement agency; or
(C) any Member of Congress or any committee of Congress;
(2) in initiating, testifying in, or assisting in any
investigation or judicial or administrative action of an
appropriate regulatory or law enforcement agency or the
Department of Justice, or any investigation of Congress,
based upon or related to the information described in
paragraph (1); or
(3) in providing information regarding an AI violation, or
any conduct that the covered individual reasonably believes
constitutes an AI violation, to--
(A) a person with supervisory authority over the covered
individual at the employer of the covered individual; or
(B) another individual working for the employer described
in subparagraph (A) whom the covered individual reasonably
believes has the authority to--
(i) investigate, discover, or terminate the misconduct; or
(ii) take any other action to address the misconduct.
(b) Enforcement.--
(1) In general.--A covered individual who alleges they are
aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may seek relief
under paragraph (3) by--
(A) filing a complaint with the Secretary of Labor in
accordance with the requirements of paragraph (2)(A); or
(B) if the Secretary of Labor has not issued a final
decision in accordance with such paragraph within 180 days of
the filing of a complaint under subparagraph (A), and there
is no showing that such a delay is due to the bad faith of
the covered individual, bringing an action against the
employer at law or in equity in the appropriate district
court of the United States, which shall have jurisdiction
over such an action without regard to the amount in
controversy.
(2) Procedure.--
(A) Department of labor complaints.--
(i) In general.--Except as provided in clauses (ii) and
(iii) and paragraph (3), a complaint filed with the Secretary
of Labor under paragraph (1)(A) shall be governed by the
rules and procedures set forth in section 42121(b) of title
49, United States Code, including the legal burdens of proof
described in such section.
(ii) Exceptions.--With respect to a complaint filed under
paragraph (1)(A), notification required under section
42121(b)(1) of title 49, United States Code, shall be made to
each person named in the complaint, including the employer.
(iii) Enforcement of orders.--In addition to any final
order issued pursuant to paragraph (3) of section 42121(b) of
title 49, United States Code, with respect to a complaint
filed by a covered individual under paragraph (1)(A), a
preliminary order issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of such
section by the Secretary of Labor with respect to such a
complaint may be enforced by the Secretary of Labor pursuant
to section 42121(b)(5) of such title or by the covered
individual pursuant to section 42121(b)(6) of such title.
(B) District court actions.--
(i) Jury trial.--A party to an action brought under
paragraph (1)(B) shall be entitled to trial by jury.
(ii) Statute of limitations.--
(I) In general.--An action may not be brought under
paragraph (1)(B)--
(aa) more than 6 years after the date on which the
violation of subsection (a) occurs; or
(bb) more than 3 years after the date on which facts
material to the right of action are known, or reasonably
should have been known, by the covered individual bringing
the action.
(II) Required action within 10 years.--Notwithstanding
subclause (I), an action under paragraph (1)(B) may not in
any circumstance be brought more than 10 years after the date
on which the violation occurs.
(3) Relief.--Relief for a covered individual prevailing
with respect to a complaint filed under paragraph (1)(A) or
an action under paragraph (1)(B) shall include--
(A) reinstatement with the same seniority status that the
covered individual would have had, but for the violation;
(B) 2 times the amount of back pay otherwise owed to the
covered individual, with interest;
(C) the payment of compensatory damages, which shall
include compensation for litigation costs, expert witness
fees, and reasonable attorneys' fees; and
(D) any other appropriate remedy with respect to the
violation as determined by the Secretary of Labor in a
complaint under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) or by the
court in an action under subparagraph (B) of such paragraph.
(c) Nonenforceability Waivers of Rights or Remedies.--The
rights and remedies provided for in this section may not be
waived or altered by any contract, agreement, policy form, or
condition of employment (or condition of work or post-work),
including by any agreement requiring a covered individual to
engage in arbitration, mediation, or any other alternative
dispute resolution process prior to seeking relief under
subsection (b).
(d) Rights Retained by Covered Individuals.--Nothing in
this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights,
privileges, or remedies of any covered individual under any
Federal or State law, or under any collective bargaining
agreement.
(e) Predispute Arbitration Agreements.--No predispute
arbitration agreement shall be valid or enforceable, if the
agreement requires arbitration of a dispute arising under
this section.
(f) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) AI violation.--The term ``AI violation'' means--
(A) any violation of Federal law, including rules and
regulations, related to or committed as part of the
development, deployment, or use of artificial intelligence or
an artificial system;
(B) any failure to appropriately respond to a substantial
and specific danger that the development, deployment, or use
of artificial intelligence may pose to public safety, public
health, or national security; or
(C) any failure or lapse in security that reasonably could
be expected to cause artificial intelligence technology to be
acquired by a person (including a foreign entity) by theft or
other unlawful means.
(2) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' includes any of the following:
(A) An artificial system that performs tasks under varying
and unpredictable circumstances without significant human
oversight, or that can learn from experience and improve
performance when exposed to data sets.
(B) An artificial system developed in computer software,
physical hardware, or other context that solves tasks
requiring human-like perception, cognition, planning,
learning, communication, or physical action.
(C) An artificial system designed to think or act like a
human, including cognitive architectures and neural networks.
(D) A set of techniques, including machine learning, that
are designed to approximate a cognitive task.
(E) An artificial system designed to act rationally,
including an intelligent software agent or embodied robot
that achieves goals using perception, planning, reasoning,
learning, communicating, decision making, and acting.
(F) Any computational technique, system, or process that is
designed to approximate, automate, or augment functions of
human cognition, perception, planning, prediction, decision
making, communication, or physical action, including machine
learning, statistical inference, knowledge representation, or
algorithmic reasoning.
(3) Artificial system.--The term ``artificial system''--
(A) means any data system, software, application, tool, or
utility that operates in whole or in part using dynamic or
static machine learning algorithms or other forms of
artificial intelligence, including in the case--
(i) the data system, software, application, tool, or
utility is established primarily for the purpose of
researching, developing, or implementing artificial
intelligence technology; or
(ii) artificial intelligence capability is integrated into
another system or agency business process, operational
activity, or technology system;
(B) means any system, tool, or application that--
(i) uses artificial intelligence to generate outputs
affecting digital or physical environments; and
(ii) operates with some capacity to generalize, adapt, or
perform tasks beyond those explicitly pre-programmed by human
designers; and
[[Page S3321]]
(C) does not include any common commercial product within
which artificial intelligence is embedded, such as a word
processor or map navigation system.
(4) Commerce.--The terms ``commerce'' and ``industry or
activity affecting commerce'' mean any activity, business, or
industry in commerce or in which a labor dispute would hinder
or obstruct commerce or the free flow of commerce, and
include ``commerce'' and any ``industry affecting commerce'',
as defined in paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 501 of the
Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (29 U.S.C. 142 (1) and
(3)).
(5) Covered individual.--The term ``covered individual''
includes--
(A) an employee, including a former employee; and
(B) a current or former independent contractor, contractor,
subcontractor, or agent.
(6) Employer.--The term ``employer'' means any person
(including any officer, employee, contractor, subcontractor,
agent, company, partnership, or other individual or entity)
engaged in commerce or an industry or activity affecting
commerce who pays any compensation to a covered individual in
exchange for the covered individual providing work to the
person.
______