Mark Takano: “I just want to point out we keep getting back to this point about everybody voted for the SES provision that is only now…”

“I just want to point out we keep getting back to this point about everybody voted for the SES provision that is only now being extended to all employees now, but I want to remind my colleagues that that provision was part of a large, large conference report that included the $10 billion to address the problems we had in Phoenix. There were 1,500 graduate medical education slots. It was a huge, huge, huge bill. There were a number of people who did have concerns about the provision that affected the SES employees, but given the enormity of the situation we were trying to address, I believe that many folks just believe that it was the best thing to do to come together on a bipartisan basis and pass a bill that addressed the situation in Phoenix. I also want to address another issue. H.R. 1994 does not protect whistleblowers to the extent that whistleblowers are protected now under the current regime. In fact, it creates extra hurdles for whistleblowers, and I bring this point up because we would not know about the terrible egregious situation in Phoenix without whistleblowers coming forward. What do I mean by that? This bill does nothing to protect the firing of a whistleblower who has not yet filed an official complaint before they even have the opportunity to report danger to patient safety, wrongdoing, malfeasance, or discrimination.…”