FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 10, 2021

146 Organizations Urge Congress to Pass Amendment Modernizing Government Contractor Whistleblower Laws 

Senator Warren’s proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 would improve whistleblower protections for contractors and grantees. 

WASHINGTON – As trillions of dollars flow into the economy to fund COVID-19 recovery and domestic priorities such as infrastructure spending, it’s more important than ever that those carrying out taxpayer projects have adequate whistleblower protections. Government Accountability Project is joined by 146 organizations urging Congress to ensure that government contractors and grantees can blow the whistle on fraud, waste, and abuse by passing S.Amdt.3899 to S.Amdt.3867 amending H.R.4350 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022. As the workforce that will receive the lion’s share of this funding, whistleblower protections for contractors and grantees are also protections for American taxpayers.

When President Obama proposed what was enacted as a $700 billion stimulus spending increase, a bi-partisan congressional coalition created the whistleblower protections that Inspectors General credited with minimizing fraud and waste. Unfortunately, those safeguards have become badly dated, substantially weakening America’s ability to fight corruption.

This whistleblower amendment would upgrade outdated laws to current best practices for the over seven million federally funded contract workers by:

  • protecting government contractors and grantees from retaliation for blowing the whistle, not just their employees;
  • protecting public health workers excluded from coverage under the Affordable Care Act;
  • ending the international loophole for U.S. contractor whistleblowers working in foreign locations;
  • ending the technical sovereign immunity loophole that has canceled protection for all state and local employees who blow the whistle;
  • adding protection against blocklisting; and
  • strengthening confidentiality protections for whistleblowers.

Government Accountability Project Legal Director Tom Devine commented:

“With trillions of dollars in new spending, America cannot afford deficit drains due to fraud, waste, and abuse. That is why there is a bi-partisan grass roots mandate from 86% of likely voters in a Marist poll before the last election who favored stronger whistleblower protection. That is why our outdated government contractor whistleblower law must be modernized to meet the challenge. Senator Warren’s amendment does just that. America needs bi-partisan mandate for accountability far more than in 2009, when Republicans demanded it for $700 billion in new stimulus spending.”

Read Government Accountability Project’s full letter to Members of Congress here.

Contact: Andrew Harman, Communications Director
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (202) 926-3304

Government Accountability Project 

Government Accountability Project is the nation’s leading whistleblower protection organization. Through litigating whistleblower cases, publicizing concerns and developing legal reforms, Government Accountability Project’s mission is to protect the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability. Founded in 1977, Government Accountability Project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. 

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