(Washington, D.C.) – As congressional negotiations over bailout legislation continue, an extraordinary movement of organizations from across the ideological spectrum, representing millions of Americans, is demanding that Congress in its waning days pass legislation to strengthen whistleblower protections for government and corporate employees.
The coalition’s efforts were bolstered today by a letter from House of Representatives Progressive Caucus members, spearheaded by Chairs Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) seeking whistleblower protection as an integrity foundation for the bailout bill. At the other end of the ideological spectrum, an “Open Letter to the U.S. Congress from Conservative Organizations” implores Congress to act on whistleblower legislation immediately, noting that Congress “would be doing a disservice to taxpayer advocates” if it failed to find the time to pass whistleblower protections before the close of the Congress. Groups signing the conservative letter included the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform, Competitive Enterprise Institute, American Conservative Defense Alliance, American Policy Center, Arizona Eagle Forum, Citizen Outreach Project, Downsize DC, Liberty Coalition, and the U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation.
Additionally, GAP, Public Citizen, American Federation of Government Employees, National Whistleblower Center, National Employment Lawyers Association, Project On Government Oversight, and the Union of Concerned Scientists are leading efforts on behalf of an astonishing 231 organizations in support the whistleblower protection legislation, which amends the judicially-gutted Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). The number of organizations supporting the effort, in addition to the conservative organizations, has swelled from 112 supporting the reform in a similar communication sent to Congress in June.