[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12281-12282]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    WHISTLEBLOWER WEEK IN WASHINGTON

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I announced today the kickoff of 
whistleblower week in Washington. This week, and the events surrounding 
it, are designed to promote, to celebrate, and to educate Congress and 
the public about the courage and the patriotism of our whistleblowers. 
These individuals often risk their careers to expose fraud, waste, and 
abuse in an effort to protect not only the health and safety of the 
American people but also the Federal Treasury and taxpayer dollars.
  This week's events promoting and celebrating whistleblowers are 
important for all Members of Congress and for the public as well. By 
highlighting what whistleblowers do, we provide insight into what it 
means to be a whistleblower and the important role they play in 
Government and society.
  For over two decades, I have learned from, appreciated, and honored 
whistleblowers. Congress needs to make a special note of the role that 
whistleblowers play in helping us to fulfill our constitutional duty of 
conducting oversight of the executive branch of Government or what we 
learn in high school government classes called checks and balances.
  As a Senator, I have conducted extensive oversight into virtually all 
aspects of the Federal bureaucracy. Despite the differences in cases 
from agency to agency and from department to department, one constant 
remains: the need for information and the need for insight from 
whistleblowers. This information is vital to effective congressional 
oversight, the constitutional responsibility of Congress, in addition 
to legislating.
  Documents alone are insufficient when it comes to understanding a 
dysfunctional bureaucracy. Only whistleblowers can explain why 
something is wrong and provide the best evidence to prove it. Moreover, 
only whistleblowers can help us truly understand problems with the 
culture of Government agencies, because without changing the culture, 
business as usual is the rule.
  Whistleblowers have been instrumental in uncovering $700 being spent 
on toilet seats in the Department of Defense. These American heroes 
were also critical in our learning about how the Food and Drug 
Administration missed the boat and approved Vioxx, how Government 
contracts were inappropriately steered at the General Services 
Administration, and how the corporation Enron was cooking the books and 
ripping off investors. Courageous employees blew the whistle and shed 
much needed sunlight on the problems that would otherwise never see the 
light of day.
  Similar to all whistleblowers, each whistleblower in these cases 
demonstrated tremendous courage. They stuck their neck out for the good 
of all of us. They spoke the truth. They didn't take the easy way out 
by going along to get along or by looking the other way when they saw 
that things were wrong and that there was wrongdoing.
  The whistleblower whom I call the grandfather of all whistleblowers, 
Ernie Fitzgerald, of about 30 years of Department of Defense fame as an 
auditor, says that the only thing that whistleblowers commit--let me 
say it this way: The only thing that whistleblowers do, and it ends up 
getting them in trouble is, in his words, ``commit truth.'' For 
committing truth, then, they are about as welcome as a skunk at a 
Sunday afternoon picnic with the bureaucracies they are within.
  I have said it for many years without avail, and it probably will not 
be of avail, that I would like to see the President of the United 
States--and I have said this to four different Presidents--have a Rose 
Garden ceremony honoring whistleblowers. This would send a message from 
the very top of the bureaucracy, which is the Presidency of the United 
States, and to the bottom of the bureaucracy about the importance and 
value of whistleblowers.
  They deserve this attention, and we all ought to be grateful for what 
they do and appreciate the very difficult circumstances they often have 
to endure to do whistleblowing--or as Fitzgerald says, ``committing 
truth''--because in the end they sacrifice their family's finances, 
oftentimes their employability, and the attempts by powerful interest 
groups to actually smear their good names and good intentions.
  Earlier today, I had the opportunity to speak at a panel that 
gathered to discuss the plight of whistleblowers at the Federal Bureau 
of Investigation. These individuals discussed the hurdles they face in 
exposing the truth--or, according to Fitzgerald, ``committing truth.'' 
Further, they discussed the lengths at which some bureaucrats will go 
to prevent the truth from getting out.
  Unfortunately, these former agents also discussed a culture that 
keeps problems internal and the circling of wagons within the 
bureaucracy when things go wrong. Oftentimes, this culture ``shoots'' 
the whistleblower instead of addressing the problem.
  Mr. President, retaliation against whistleblowers should not be 
tolerated. We have an obligation to ensure that those who retaliate are 
punished. Congress has recognized the need to protect whistleblowers, 
and I have used my experience working with whistleblowers to promote 
legislation that protects them from retaliation--legislation such as 
the Whistleblower Protection Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and the False 
Claims Act.
  These acts all recognize the benefits of whistleblowers and offer 
protection to those seeking to uncover the truth. For example, 
whistleblowers have used the False Claims Act to help the Federal 
Government recover nearly $20 billion since Congress passed my 
amendments in 1986. I think the deterrent effect--if you can quantify 
it--would be many times the $20 billion of hard cash that has actually 
come back into the Federal Treasury. These laws I gave are a good step. 
However, our work in this field is unfinished and more can be done.
  The next step in protecting whistleblowers was filed in January and 
is currently pending before this body. It is S. 274, the Federal 
Employee Protection of Disclosures Act, which will provide much needed 
updates to Federal whistleblower protections. I am proud to be an 
original cosponsor of S. 274 and believe the Senate should move this 
important legislation. Unfortunately, this bill was introduced but not 
addressed in the last Congress. It is my

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hope this Chamber will act on S. 274 and improve the protections for 
whistleblowers.
  I urge all of my colleagues to join in support of S. 274 and swiftly 
move this important legislation to help protect whistleblowers further 
than present law does. I also urge all of my colleagues to attend the 
events that are occurring all week to help celebrate whistleblowers, 
point out that this is an important tool in the checks and balances of 
our Government, and all that whistleblowers have done to benefit the 
work of Congress and, more important, all they have done to make 
America safer, stronger, a better nation, and to make sure we get our 
dollars' worth for the taxpayers' dollars.

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