New Whistleblower bill proposed by Sibel Edmonds' NSWBC

[cascadiance]

Just posted this to LBN too now, though not many have noticed it yet.

LBN thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1985566&mesg_id=1985566

This bill sounds like the NSWBC has been working very hard in coming up with some proposed legislation to protect many whistleblowers here and is worthy of study. The bill is still not released publicly, but will be so in January. I think this bill might be critical folks. We need to write and call our congressmen on this one to get them to support it or explain why they won't (publicly if need be).

I've been meaning to add more content to this newsgroup, which has been dormant for a while now. I'll try at some point to build a set of "Historical link" posts here to allow folks to navigate to other posts on DU in a more centralized fashion for certain subjects. If folks have suggestions on this, please note here in another thread.

Anway, please read:

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33003&dcn=todaysnews

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DAILY BRIEFING
December 13, 2005

Group proposes bill to strengthen whistleblower protections

By Chris Strohm
[e-mail]

A coalition of national security whistleblowers has proposed legislation that would fundamentally change how complaints are adjudicated and would make retaliation against those who report wrongdoing a criminal offense.

Language drafted by the coalition would cover all federal employees and contractors, do away with the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act and prevent the Office of Special Counsel from adjudicating whistleblower cases. Government Executive obtained a copy of the proposed bill; the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition does not plan to release the document until January.

The bill is part of the coalition's ongoing push to obtain stronger protections for government workers and contractors who report waste, fraud or abuse. The coalition was established in 2004 and has more than 60 members. Most were retaliated against after reporting wrongdoing and either lost their jobs or are litigating their complaints.

Members are meeting with congressional staff to find lawmakers to formally introduce the legislation. The coalition also is asking other organizations to back the bill.

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