May, 24 2011, 02:59pm EDT
Final Whistleblower Provisions in Dodd-Frank Act to be Announced Tomorrow Morning
Tomorrow, May 25th at 9:30 a.m. EST, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will meet to vote on its final rules for the whistleblower provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The rules will directly relate to the new "bounty" provisions in the Securities Exchange Act, which requires the SEC to pay whistleblower rewards.
Stephen M. Kohn, NWC Executive Director, issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON
Tomorrow, May 25th at 9:30 a.m. EST, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will meet to vote on its final rules for the whistleblower provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The rules will directly relate to the new "bounty" provisions in the Securities Exchange Act, which requires the SEC to pay whistleblower rewards.
Stephen M. Kohn, NWC Executive Director, issued the following statement:
We are gravely concerned that the SEC will enact rules that will set back whistleblower protections for years to come. There has been an unprecedented and aggressive lobbying campaign by the Chamber of Commerce and other corporate interests to undermine the ability of employees to disclose fraud to the appropriate authorities.
Early indications are that the SEC will bow to corporate pressures and cut Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections off at the legs. We hope we are wrong.
To arrange an interview with Stephen Kohn please contact Lindsey Williams at lmw@whistleblowers.org or 202-342-1903.
Links:
NWC Dodd-Frank Rulemaking page -- links to memos from Commissioner meetings, NWC public comments, and other related materials
Since 1988, the NWC and attorneys associated with it have supported whistleblowers in the courts and before Congress and achieved victories for environmental protection, government contract fraud, nuclear safety and government and corporate accountability.
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As Senate Prepares for NDAA Vote, Progressive Caucus Says It Is 'Past Time' to Slash Pentagon Budget
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As Senate Democrats prepared to move forward with a procedural vote on the annual defense budget package that passed in the House earlier this week, the Congressional Progressive Caucus outlined its objections to the legislation and called for the Pentagon budget to be cut, with military funding freed up to "reinvest in critical human needs."
CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said following the passage of the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025 (H.R. 5009) that "it should alarm every American taxpayer that we are nearing a trillion-dollar annual budget for an agency rampant with waste, fraud, and abuse."
Jayapal, who was one of 140 lawmakers to oppose the package, emphasized that the Pentagon has failed seven consecutive annual audits.
Despite being the only federal agency to never have passed a federal audit, said Jayapal, the Department of Defense "continues to receive huge boosts to funding every year. Our constituents deserve better."
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The Constitution vests Congress, not the president, with the power to declare war (though presidents have used military force without getting the OK from Congress on multiple occasions in modern history, according to the National Constitution Center).
During the Cold War, when nuclear weapons policy was produced, speed was seen as essential to deterrence, according to Jon Wolfsthal, the director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists, who wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post last year that makes a similar argument to Markey and Lieu.
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The September 29 attack "destroyed the house of the Syrian al-Shaar family, killing all nine members of the family who were sleeping inside," the report states.
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As the report notes:
A fragment of the munition found at the site of the attack was analyzed by an Amnesty International weapons expert and based upon its size, shape, and the scalloped edges of the heavy metal casing, identified as most likely a MK-80 series aerial bomb, which would mean it was at least a 500-pound bomb. The United States is the primary supplier of these types of munitions to Israel.
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