National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

P.O. Box 20210

Alexandria, VA 22320

March 21, 2006

Congressman Mark Souder

2231 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Souder:

We read with astonishment, disappointment, and a great deal of outrage the comments you made during the March 15, 2006 mark-up session on the DHS Management & Operations Improvement Act of 2006. We are astonished and disappointed that a member of the U.S. House of Representatives would make such outrageously false and repugnant statements shamelessly attacking whistleblowers, questioning their motives, portraying them as "celebrities in the media, and insinuating that they blow the whistle for their own self interests or for money.

If you believe this to be true, then you are obviously woefully uninformed, and should have had the decency to remain silent on the subject. If on the other hand you know better, but simply chose to be a mouthpiece for the administration, then shame on you; shame for your failure to step up to your Constitutional oversight duty; shame for your failure to recognize the sacrifices whistleblowers make in order to try to bring to light waste, fraud, abuse, and criminal conduct in their agencies; shame for your failure to recognize the importance of their actions to the safety and security of the citizens of the United States.

Congressman Markey had it right when he stated, "most whistleblowers who bring security-related concerns do not get named the Time magazine person of the year or get prominently mentioned in newspapers or get congressional attention. Instead, they get fired; they get blackballed from getting other jobs. They go broke, they're lives are ruined." He speaks from a position of knowledge; you would do well to learn from him and to support his efforts to bring about meaningful whistleblower protection. Perhaps then the next time you too could speak with authority, rather than with comments such as yours, which, made in a public forum, from a member of congress, do irreparable harm to the reputations of whistleblowers and their quest for necessary and meaningful legislative protection. Therefore, NSWBC, on behalf of its more than eighty whistleblower members and all other national security whistleblowers, demands that you issue an immediate public apology and a retraction of your statements.

Respectfully,

Sibel Edmonds

Founder & Director-NSWBC

E-mail: sedmonds@nswbc.org

CC: Congressman Ed Markey

CC: Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney

CC: Congressman Henry Waxman

CC: Congressman Tom Davis

About 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. 

For more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org