Chuck Grassley: “I rise to reintroduce the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007, which will extend whistleblower…”

“I rise to reintroduce the Congressional Whistleblower Protection Act of 2007, which will extend whistleblower protections currently available to certain executive branch employees to legislative branch employees. Presently, executive branch employees are shielded from retaliation for exposing waste, fraud, or abuse by the Whistleblower Protection Act. The bill I'm introducing today simply extends those same protections to legislative branch employees. A theme that has dominated this new Congress, as well as the elections this past November, is accountability and responsibility in Washington. I have fought hard for whistleblowers over the years because they are key in our efforts to ensure government accountability to the people we are sent here to serve. In most instances, the only reason we discover waste or fraud is because employees are brave enough to stand up to the wrongdoers and expose their offenses. Without these whistleblowers, the American taxpayer would continue to foot the bill. My bill will, very simply, give congressional employees the same protections that workers in the other branches of government already possess.”