[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 9369]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


                       RECOGNIZING CAROLYN LERNER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ROD BLUM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 15, 2017

  Mr. BLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to thank Ms. Carolyn Lerner for 
her service as Special Counsel at the Office of Special Counsel (OSC). 
This is her last week at OSC after six years leading the Office.
  OSC has the enormous and important task of policing the executive 
branch against prohibited personnel practices, including retaliation 
against whistleblowers.
  Ms. Lerner began her work at OSC in June 2011, and her impact there 
has been extremely positive. With her at the helm, OSC increased both 
the number of complaints it investigated and the number of cases it 
resolved. The agency has won widespread bipartisan praise for its work, 
including resolving multiple cases of retaliation against 
whistleblowers at the Veterans Administration.
  As co-chairman of the House Whistleblower Protection Caucus and 
member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, I know 
how vitally important whistleblowers are to Congressional oversight of 
the federal government. The brave men and women who have the courage to 
expose abuse and fraud in their workplaces deserve to be protected, and 
under Ms. Lerner's leadership, OSC has done just that.
  It has been a pleasure to work with Ms. Lerner since coming to 
Congress. As her time at OSC comes to an end, I wish again to thank her 
for her service to our nation and her tireless commitment to protecting 
whistleblowers. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

                          ____________________