[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3432-3433]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    REMOVAL OF NOMINATION OBJECTION

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, on December 18, 2015, I placed a hold on 
the

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nomination of Dr. Janine Ann Davidson to be Under Secretary of the 
Navy. As I made clear in my statement at that time, my action was not 
directed at Dr. Davidson; rather, it was directed at the pending 
promotion by the Navy of RDML Brian Losey and concerns I had related to 
findings by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General 
concerning Rear Admiral Losey's retaliation against whistleblowers. I 
have been informed by the Navy that Rear Admiral Losey will not be 
promoted. Consequently, I am removing my hold on Dr. Davidson's 
nomination and will support her confirmation.
  To quickly review why I took this action, the DOD OIG conducted 
several extensive investigations into allegations of retaliation by 
Rear Admiral Losey against senior members of his joint command. In 
three of those investigations, the DOD IG concluded that he wrongfully 
retaliated against his staff even after he was advised not to do so. 
The DOD IG also concluded that his immediate subordinates carried out 
retaliatory actions at his behest in two of those cases.
  I found the OIG findings compelling. In a January 14, 2016, letter to 
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, Senator McCain and Senator Reed, in their 
capacity as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services 
Committee, also cited the OIG findings in support of their request to 
Secretary Mabus that Losey not be promoted.
  Notwithstanding Rear Admiral Losey's long service to our country, the 
Navy would have been wrong to dismiss the OIG findings and promote him. 
Doing so would have sent exactly the wrong message, namely that 
retaliation against whistleblowers is acceptable.
  One of the pillars of our system of government is the rule of law; a 
principle that applies no less to our military and to the vital 
principle of civilian control over the military. It is illegal to 
retaliate against whistleblowers, whether civilian or military, and I 
commend the DOD inspector general and his staff for their diligence in 
these investigations.
  I commend Secretary Mabus and the Navy for taking what I believe is 
the right course of action in this situation, but my concern with the 
protection of whistleblowers did not begin with the Losey case, and it 
will not end with the Losey case. I will continue to work here in the 
Senate to ensure that those who come forward to expose waste, fraud, or 
abuse are protected.
  In the meantime, I encourage the nominee, Dr. Janine Ann Davidson, to 
focus on the hard work she has before her in addressing whistleblower 
retaliation issues in the military.

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