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Resource Center : Policy : Whistleblower Protection :

Whistleblower Protection

Whistleblowers have been and continue to be extremely useful in revealing illegal or inappropriate government actions. Whistleblowers are modern day heroes of accountability, safeguarding government against corruption and mismanagement, alerting citizens of unseen threats lurking where we least expect it. The only reasonable and responsible government action is to stand along side whistleblowers and protect them as earnestly as they try to protect the government and the people. Unfortunately, many government policies and court decisions have significantly reduced the protections Congress established under the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Federal Agency Information

Organizations

Government Accountability Project- The Government Accountability Project's protects the public interest by promoting government and corporate accountability through advancing occupational free speech and ethical conduct, defending whistleblowers, and empowering citizen activists.
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition - NSWBC is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses.
Project On Government Oversight - POGO is an independent nonprofit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more accountable federal government.
Public Citizen - Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts.
Union of Concerned Scientists - The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world.

Editorials in Support of Whistleblower Protections

Groups Seek Whistle-Blower Protection in Bailout Legislation
[Washington Post, September 24, 2008]

Protecting Whistleblowers
[Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 18, 2008]

Help Whistle-blowers
[Hartford Courant, September 17, 2008]

Protection needed for whistleblowers
[Republican Herald, September 4, 2008]

Legislation

Consumer Product Safety Commission Reform Act, PL 110-314 (Enacted August 14, 2008)
Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act, S. 274 (Passed in June 2007 by the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee)
The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007, H.R. 985 (Passed by the House in March 2007)
The Executive Branch Reform Act of 2007, H.R. 984 (Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Unanimous Consent, 2.14.2007)

Other legislation

Analyses and Reports

ANALYSIS: Unfulfilled Expectations: An Empirical Analysis of Why Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblowers Rarely Win. Richard Moberly, Wm. & Mary Law Review [Fall 2007]
NEWS: Pentagon orders stronger whistleblower protections
[PEER Press Release 7.31.07]
ANALYSIS: Documents, Leaks and the Boundaries of Expression: Government Whistleblowing in an Over-Classified Age
[By Susan Nevelow Mart, LLRX.com, 7.27.07]

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