**UPDATE: THE FULL TEXT OF THE LEGISLATION IS LINKED HERE
This week, Congressman Albert Wynn introduced the Congressional Disclosures Act (HR. 4650), legislation to protect federal employees from retaliation when they make disclosures to members of Congress. This is important legislation and it has been strongly supported by the National Whistleblower Center and many other public interest groups.
This bill is the second of the No FEAR (Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation) laws, the first of which was enacted in 2002, and has been described as "the first civil rights law of the 21st century."
in a December 18 press release, the No FEAR Coalition, an organization whose mission is to push for the enactment of laws protecting federal employees, put forth the following statement:
"This law will provides courageous federal government workers with concrete tools to defend themselves against a government of lawlessness, for the first time, government employees will be entitled to legal defense, groups, such as medical doctors…will be protected against harassment and retaliation when they expose corruption in hospitals. Agencies will have to disclose the total dollar amount spent to pursue victims of discrimination and retaliation. We commend Congressman Wynn for introducing this historic legislation."
