I had the pleasure of appearing on Fox Business last week to discuss the historic whistleblower provisions included in the recently passed financial reform bill. The qui tam provisions in the bill provide strong protections and financial rewards for reporting financial fraud. These provisions are designed to encourage private employees to report fraud. The FOIA exemption in the whistleblower provision of the bill is necessary to protect the identity of whistleblowers who step forward.
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However, for all the good provisions in the bill, Congress still left out an important piece of the puzzle. They failed to include protection for federal employees. So, the employees at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) who are concerned that the agency is not properly investigating a case will still have no protection. We cannot have effective oversight and accountability without both pieces. Federal employees deserve the same strong whistleblower protections that Congress has repeatedly granted to private employees. The amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act have been pending in Congress for years and if Congress does not act soon another session will end without the passage of meaningful reform. Congress must immediately pass the House version of the bill, H.R. 1507. You can help by clicking here to send a letter to Congress asking then to pass strong federal employee whistleblower protection.
