Jackie Speier: “The history of whistleblowing dates back to the founding of this country. The Continental Congress was committed to…”

“The history of whistleblowing dates back to the founding of this country. The Continental Congress was committed to making sure that whistleblowers would have a voice. Last year alone, $2.2 billion was saved by the taxpayers because of whistleblowers in our government. The April massacre of IGs was an unprecedented power play by the President, a ruthless President who somehow thought they worked for him. They don't work for him. They didn't work for him. They work for the American people, and that is why, since the founding of this country, we have been so committed to it. Today's legislation will protect IGs from retaliation and increase their independence, ensuring they operate free from political interference. Those complaints that those IGs were looking at were brought to them by individuals. It was a political move by the President to fire them. I am interested that my colleague on the other side of the aisle was concerned about the costs of being represented by counsel when someone who is a Federal employee is called in to testify. Maybe we can work on a bill to make sure that every Federal employee has that benefit. No one talked about that when Ambassador Yovanovitch was called in to testify or National Security Advisor Fiona Hill or Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, all of whom had to pick up the tab for the attorneys representing them.…”