• AML
  • Qui Tam
  • SEC
  • CFTC
  • FCPA
  • FAQS
Subscribe
Donate
No Result
View All Result
Whistleblower Network News
The Truth at Any Cost.
Qui Tam, Compliance and Anti-Corruption News.
Whistleblower Network News
No Result
View All Result
Home Government

It’s Time To Tap President Obama On The Shoulder

David ColapintobyDavid Colapinto
September 8, 2009
in Government, Intelligence Community, Legislation, News, Opinion
Reading Time: 5 mins read
Share on TwitterShare on FacebookShare on LinkedInEmail

Bookmark and Share

At a Labor Day rally held yesterday in Cincinnati, Ohio, President Barack Obama told the story about his visit to Greenwood, South Carolina in the presidential primary campaign. Not realizing the remote location of Greenwood, President Obama agreed to visit that small southern town in exchange for the primary endorsement of a South Carolina state legislator.

Having forgotten about his promise, on his next trip to South Carolina Mr. Obama was tapped on the shoulder by a campaign staffer who informed the Senator that he needed to wake up early the next morning.  

Mr. Obama asked why?  “Because you need to be in the car at 6:30am so we can go to Greenwood like you promised,” the staffer replied.

Register for National Whistleblower Day

Upon arriving at Greenwood, the future president was disappointed by the size of the small crowd of about 20 people, but that small crowd proved to be a turning point in his campaign when Mr. Obama was greeted by a Greenwood city council member, who started chanting, “Fired, Up? Ready to Go!”   
By keeping a promise, Mr. Obama by happenstance found his voice in the primaries and his campaign was re-energized all the way to the White House after adopting that chant.

It is now time for Mr. Obama to keep another promise he made during the campaign. 

In May of 2007, Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign promised America’s whistleblowers in writing that he stood behind their need for legal protection and fully supported federal court access and jury trials for all federal employees.

The House of Representatives enacted these protections when it overwhelmingly passed H.R. 985 in a veto-proof, bipartisan manner, and again when it added these provisions to the stimulus bill.  However, both times the Senate failed to pass or agree to the strong protections twice enacted by the House.  

This year, in another bipartisan effort, Representatives Van Hollen (D-MD), Waxman (D-CA), Towns (D-NY), Braley (D-IA), and Platts (R-PA) have reintroduced this bill as H.R.1507.

While the House version of the bill is more inclusive, the Senate version, S. 372, lacks many key protections. The Senate bill currently lacks coverage for the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who participate in the global war on terror and oversee a budget well over $150 billion.

One reason typically cited for denying court access for all federal employees is the claim that it could create a national security risk. However, this is not true. In an objective and independent review, the General Accounting Office (GAO) saw "no justification for treating employees at [intelligence] agencies differently from employees at other federal agencies except in rare national security cases." There is nothing in H.R. 1507 that would permit a whistleblower to reveal national security secrets to the media or the courts, yet misinformation about extending full due process protections to national security whistleblowers is still pervasive today.  The GAO’s findings demonstrate these claims of risks to national security are a myth.

Recent revelations in the news media of numerous scandals involving the intelligence agencies (such as CIA assassinations, detainee abuse and torture and illegal wiretapping) once again show that the need to provide strong protections to all federal employees who blow the whistle has never been greater.  Had the real whistleblower protections contained in H.R. 1507 been in place it is unlikely that information about illegal wiretapping and assassinations would have been withheld from Congress.  However, by enforcing the code of silence upon FBI and intelligence employees and by failing to provide for strong anti-retaliation provisions for national security whistleblowers, the timely reporting of illegal conduct to appropriate law enforcement authorities and to Congress was prevented and the wrongdoing continued.

It is time for Congress to enact a true whistleblower protection act for national security and FBI employees that provides for court access and jury trials, as does H.R. 1507, so that FBI and intelligence agency employees do not have to choose between keeping silent and risking their livelihoods when they witness illegal conduct committed by their agencies.

The Senate bill also contains weaker provisions and fails to effectively extend court access and jury trials to protect federal employees who work outside the area of national security or intelligence.  

For example, Bunnatine Greenhouse, who was the highest ranking civilian contracting officer in the Army Corps of Engineers when she blew the whistle on Iraq contracting misconduct, has noted that she would not be entitled to a jury trial in federal court under the Senate bill.  Read Bunny Greenhouse’s Letter.

In these times of record government spending, all federal employees, including those who work at the FBI and the intelligence agencies, need to be protected by a strong whistleblower law that includes the right to court access and jury trials.  Study after study has shown that strong protections from retaliation are what encourage employees to report fraud and other misconduct.

Who is going to tap President Obama on the shoulder again and remind him that he needs to keep his promise to America’s whistleblowers too?
 

Tags: FBIFederal EmployeesH.R. 1507LegislationNational Security WhistleblowersS. 372SenateWhistleblower
Previous Post

Bunny’s Letter Intensifies Debate Over Court Access For Federal Employees

Next Post

What’s Wrong With The Senate Whistleblower Bill? – Part 11

David Colapinto

David Colapinto

Next Post

What's Wrong With The Senate Whistleblower Bill? - Part 11

Please login to join discussion

Receive Daily Alerts

Subscribe to receive daily breaking news and legislative developments sent to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Most Popular

Calls Grow for Law Protecting AI Whistleblowers

Advocates Detail Need for SEC Whistleblower Reform

Raytheon Whistleblower Receives $1.5 Million for Alleging Cybersecurity Non-Compliance

Ruling Striking Down Trump Order Targeting Law Firm Seen as Crucial for Whistleblowers

MJH Healthcare Settles Whistleblower Allegations of Postal Rate Fraud for $2 Million

Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Stronger Whistleblower Laws in Australia, Mirroring Polling in US

Whistleblower Poll

Whistleblower Poll
Whistleblower Poll

Exclusive Marist Poll: Overwhelming Public Support Among Likely Voters For Increased Whistleblower Protections

byGeoff Schweller
October 6, 2020

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

STAY INFORMED.
Subscribe to receive breaking whistleblower updates.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About Us

  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Donate
  • Careers

Subscribe

  • Daily Mail
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • YouTube Channel

Contribute

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Submission Guidelines
  • Reprint Guidelines

Your Experience

  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Help

  • Rules for Whistleblowers
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Advertise
Whistleblower Network News

Whistleblower Network News is an independent online newspaper providing our readers with up-to-date information on whistleblowing. Our goal is to be the best source of information on important qui tam, anti-corruption, compliance, and whistleblower law developments. 

Submit an Article

Copyright © 2025, Whistleblower Network News. All Rights Reserved.

This Newspaper/Web Site is made available by the publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. By using this website, you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Newspaper/Web Site publisher. The Newspaper/Web Site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.

Become a Whistleblower Network News Subscriber

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Subscribe to WNN

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Subscribe to WNN
RSVP to National Whistleblower Day 2025! July 30, 2025 on Capitol Hill
RSVP NOW

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Exclusives
  • Government
    • False Claims-Qui Tam
    • Federal Employees
    • Intelligence
  • Corporate
    • CFTC & Commodities
    • Dodd-Frank
    • IRS & Tax
    • SEC & Securities
  • Features
  • Legislation
  • International
    • Foreign Corruption
  • Rewards
  • Whistleblower of the Week
  • Environment & Climate
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Employment
    • Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers
    • Retaliation
    • OSHA
  • Make National Whistleblower Day Permanent
  • Media
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • National Whistleblower Day
  • Whistleblower Poll
  • Whistleblower Resources
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Resources for Locating An Attorney
    • The New Whistleblowers Handbook

Copyright © 2024, Whistleblower Network News. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version