June 14, 2005

PRESS RELEASE:

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition wishes to draw your attention to two bills, H.R.1317 and S.494, which purport to strengthen the protections for federally employed whistleblowers. Presently, H.R.1317 is scheduled for vote on Thursday, June 16. While we support the changes to federal law contained in S.494, we oppose H.R.1317. The House bill offers no increased protection for national security whistleblowers, and does virtually nothing to protect whistleblowers in general. While some of the language in the two bills is identical, H.R.1317 does not contain many of the provisions included in S.R.494 that address well-known deficiencies in the Whistleblower Protection Act. The differences between the two bills are stark, and, specifically H.R.1317, unlike S.494, does not:

· Protect disclosure to members of Congress concerning agency waste, fraud, abuse, or actions that endanger citizens and the national security, even when the disclosure is to members of committees having primary responsibility for oversight of the agency involved in the disclosure.

· Define retaliation against national security whistleblowers through suspension or revocation of security clearances as a prohibited personnel action. A most popular method by administrators and agencies of “handling” national security whistleblowers is to revoke or suspend their clearances, which in effect is a termination of their employment.

· Contain a process of review for revocation or suspension of security clearances in retaliation for whistleblowing. The process of revocation and suspension of clearances is arcane, unaccountable, and largely carried out by a small group of security officers. Where adverse security clearance decisions are made in retaliation for the lawful reporting of malfeasance, some mechanism of accountability should be available to the whistleblower.

· Contain a provision authorizing whistleblowers to appeal their cases to any federal court of appeals of competent jurisdiction. One of the chief problems with the Whistleblower Protection Act, and one that has been recognized in Congress on numerous occasions, is the failure of the Federal Circuit, which at present has exclusive jurisdiction over whistleblower appeals, to abide by the express desires of Congress in reviewing cases involving retaliation against whistleblowers.

We respectfully ask the House Government Reform Committee amend H.R.1317 so that it is in all respects identical to S.494 or, in the alternative that the provisions present in S.494 which represent the above concerns, be placed in H.R.1317.

Contact:- Sibel Edmonds, sedmonds@nswbc.org

ABOUT THE NATIONAL SECURITY WHISTLEBLOWERS COALITION

National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in August 2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses; to inform authorities of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence agencies, at nuclear power plants and weapon facilities, in airports, and at our nation’s borders and ports; to uncover government waste, fraud, abuse, and in some cases criminal conduct.

The NSWBC is dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers through a variety of methods, including advocacy of governmental and legal reform, educating the public concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of comfort and fellowship to national security whistleblowers suffering retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest organizations to affect goals defined in the NSWBC mission statement.