Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I am concerned that the bill before us today will actually undermine whistleblower protections rather than strengthen them. The Office of Special Counsel echoes my concerns. Their statement regarding the bill reads: ``Section 8 of this act may undermine whistleblower protections and accountability by creating a new and unnecessary process for reporting concerns. Section 8 also creates an unreasonable expectation that supervisors will be able to evaluate an employee concern within 4 business days. This process is overly burdensome for employees and supervisors and may be entirely unworkable in many instances.'' We should go back to the drawing board. Let's go through regular order back in committee and not do this under the suspended rules and try to fix things on the floor of the House. I continue the quote of the Special Counsel: ``This approach is not the best method for improving accountability or evaluating supervisory efforts to support and protect whistleblowers. OSC believes that reinforcing existing channels for reporting concerns would better protect the interests of VA whistleblowers.'' Whistleblowers are essential for proper oversight. Accountability measures that undermine whistleblowers or deter them from coming forward will make it harder. Again, the whistleblower protections in this bill may actually undermine our ability to protect them. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.…”