Whistling Freedom

[kpete]

Whistling Freedom
Tom Devine
March 08, 2007


Tom Devine is the Government Accountability Project's legal director.

Effective congressional oversight requires safe channels for the flow of information. That means protecting whistleblowers, those who exercise freedom of speech when it counts, to challenge abuses of power that betray the public trust. They are the lifeblood for any credible anti-corruption campaign. Their rights will determine whether oversight uncovers the tip or the iceberg.

Last month, the House Government Reform Committee lived up to its name, unanimously approving legislation to replace the discredited Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) with a gold standard for federal employee free speech rights. House leaders have promised an imminent floor vote to deliver on their commitment for government ethics reform. There is no time for the Senate to delay catching up. Over the next two years, every crucial political battle could depend on learning the truth from whistleblowers, so there is no excuse for delay with this reform.

Active voters get it. A February Democracy Corps survey found 79 percent of regular voters more likely to support a Congress that passes “a strong whistleblower law to protect government employees from retribution if they report waste or corruption.” This was second in importance to them only to ensuring that the bureaucracy spends money on what it was approved for, instead of itself.

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Quick congressional action is imperative. Until that happens, they are defenseless. The severity of retaliatory acts by supervisors corresponds directly to how greatly they feel threatened. That translates to unprecedented peril over the next two years for whistleblowers who report wrongdoing to Congress.

more at:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/03/08/whistling_freedom.php