WASHINGTON DC (July 24, 2019) — Senators Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR), the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, today announced the addition of three new senators to the caucus’ ranks. The new members include Sens Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), bringing total membership to fourteen senators.
The announcement coincides with the yesterday’s unanimous Senate passage of a resolution designating July 30 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The resolution encourages federal agencies to acknowledge the importance of whistleblowers who call attention to fraud, waste, and abuse and remind employees of their legal rights as whistleblowers. The resolution was cosponsored by each member of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus along with Sens Ben Cardin (D-MD), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
“Whistleblowers bring accountability to government. They root out waste, fraud, and abuse. Their brave and patriotic work saves tax-payers billions of dollars each year and shines a light on wrongdoing, but it’s too often penalized by embarrassed superiors. More than two centuries ago, our nation’s founders recognized that we needed truth-tellers in government. That is no less true today. Our resolution reaffirms this idea and celebrates whistleblowers for their contributions to transparent and accountable government,” Sen Grassley said.
“Whistleblowers continue to courageously step forward to protect our democracy, putting their livelihoods on the line to expose wrongdoings and hold our government to account. Even 30 years since the passage of the Whistleblowers Protection Act, whistleblowers still face retaliation when they bravely shine a light on waste, fraud and abuse. Especially today, it is vital to defend the rights of patriots who blow the whistle,” Sen Wyden said. “That’s why I’m beyond proud that Congress passed our resolution recognizing July 30th as National Whistleblowers Day. I’m particularly pleased to welcome Sens Tammy Duckworth, Kyrsten Sinema, and Marsha Blackburn to the Senate Whistleblowers Protection Caucus.”
The Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus was launched by a bipartisan group of senators in 2015 to raise awareness of the need for adequate protections against retaliation for private sector and government employees who call attention to wrongdoing. The caucus works to foster bipartisan discussion on legislative issues affecting the treatment of whistleblowers and serves as a clearinghouse for current information on whistleblower developments of interest in the Senate.
Full membership of the caucus includes Sens Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Gary Peters (D-MI), John Boozman (R-AR), Tom Carper (D-DE), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).
