On July 30, whistleblowers, whistleblower advocates, and government officials will gather on Capitol Hill for the National Whistleblower Center’s annual National Whistleblower Day celebration.
Among the speakers that day will be two of whistleblowers’ leading champions in Congress: Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR). Grassley and Wyden are co-founders and co-chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus and have sponsored a number of critical whistleblower laws.
As chairs of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, Grassley and Wyden have also played a critical role in the recognition of National Whistleblower Day. Each year for the past decade, they have introduced a Senate resolution designating July 30 as National Whistleblower Day in order to celebrate whistleblowers’ contributions to combating waste, fraud and abuse in the United States.
“The cornerstone of the United States’ government is accountability to the people it serves. Whistleblowers put their jobs and reputations on the line to uphold that bedrock principle. Our laws should empower their oversight and ensure they can come forward without fear of retribution,” said Grassley in 2023. “Protecting whistleblowers is good government, plain and simple, and that’s something we can all get behind.”
“Whistleblowers are brave individuals who sound the alarm on fraud, waste, and abuse of public resources,” stated Wyden in 2023. “It’s time for Congress to step up and support whistleblowers by strengthening laws that allow them to raise issues without fear of retaliation. Whistleblowers are the fail-safe for our government and I’ll fight tooth and nail to shore up protections that bolster our democratic institutions.”
More speakers are still to be announced for the 2024 National Whistleblower Day celebration. In past years, speakers have included whistleblowers such as Sherron Watkins and Linda Tripp as well as government officials like SEC Chair Gary Gensler and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.
For more information on National Whistleblower Day (including how to attend) visit: https://whistleblowersblog.org/nwd/