Senate Hearing on Whistleblower Protection Act Set for June 11, 2009 at 2:30PM

On June 11, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. the
U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the
Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia will hold a hearing on
the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 (S.372).
The Enhancement Act is designed to strengthen protections for federal
employee whistleblowers. The hearing will held in Dirksen Senate
Office Building, Room 342.

The hearing will highlight differences in the House and Senate whistleblower protection legislation. The House bill, H.R. 1507,
provides for universal coverage for all federal employees and also
grants full court access for federal workers. The Senate bill excludes
national security whistleblowers from coverage, and does not provide
for court access.

Executive
Director of the National Whistleblower Center Stephen M. Kohn stated:
"The Senate needs to pass meaningful whistleblower protection for all
federal employees. Federal regulators need protection when they do
their job. The public has paid a heavy price caused, in part, by the
failure of federal regulators to properly police powerful special
interests. Only with the enactment of strong whistleblower laws will
the regulators be able to do their jobs and report waste, fraud and
abuse. The House bill will protect all federal workers and provide
them with meaningful due process rights. The Senate needs to enact
legislation which mirrors the House bill."

A broad coalition
of over fifty public interest groups and unions, including the American
Federation of Government Employees, Public Citizen, the Union of
Concerned Scientists, the
Project on Government Oversight, the National Treasury Employees Union,
the Government Accountability Project and the American Civil Liberties
Union have all endorsed the protections for whistleblowers contained in
H.R. 1507. A copy of the official Briefing Packet produced by this
coalition is attached here.

For more information please see the National Whistleblower Center's Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection page.