Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Floor Speech

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Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, whistleblowers play a key role in holding the Federal Government accountable for waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, and illegal activity. It is therefore appropriate that even though Whistleblower Appreciation Day was yesterday, we take a moment to pause and thank the brave men and women who have the courage to speak up when they see ways to better or improve our government. I want to thank them for their efforts to ensure that our government never loses sight of why we are here--to serve the American people and to be good stewards of their resources and trust.

I was also proud to introduce legislation with Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Our bill ensures adequate protections for subgrantees--the folks on the firing line who are most important to revealing when something is not right. That needs to be protected in a way that is ensured so that they always feel comfortable coming forward.

In 1989, Congress approved the Whistleblower Protection Act, thereby expanding whistleblower protections for Federal employees and later expanding protections for individuals in certain private sector employment.

From time to time, it has been necessary for Congress to refine Federal whistleblower laws. We always want them to be working. In one such instance, Congress enhanced whistleblower protections as part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 for Federal contractor, subcontractor, and grantee employees on a pilot program basis. The program worked well, and, in 2016, Congress saw fit to make the pilot permanent. It makes sense. This is how the process should work. Congress saw a problem, addressed it on a test basis, evaluated it to make sure it was working as it should, and moved to make the program permanent.

However, the subsequent amendments in 2016, to make sure the program was working, failed to guarantee subgrantees were recognized in the legislative text, as necessary, to make sure it would work on a technical basis. While 2016 amendments explicitly included Federal subgrantee employees, coordinated changes were not made in the statute's related sections.

I am proud to introduce this legislation with Senator Hassan to close this gap because it needs to work in all cases. S. 2315, the Whistleblower Act, clarifies the scope of the protection statute specifically as to employees of Federal subgrantees who provide protected disclosures. Subgrantees are often in the best position to provide information regarding wrongdoing as to Federal subgrant funds. I am, therefore, pleased to play a small role in cleaning up our laws so they operate as they were intended--to protect whistleblowers.

Finally, we take whistleblowers seriously in my office. If anybody would like to assist, contact me through our whistleblower assistance line. One can email me at whistleblower@braun.senate.gov.

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