Steven Holt: “Let me begin by thanking Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Visclosky for their cooperation in preparing this…”

“Let me begin by thanking Chairman Frelinghuysen and Ranking Member Visclosky for their cooperation in preparing this commonsense amendment. My amendment would carve out $2 million within the $504 million intelligence community management account and allocate it to the intelligence community whistleblowing and source protection directorate, which is a component of the Office of the Inspector General of the intelligence community. Currently, this directorate is literally a one-man operation. Now, the intelligence community is a closed, secretive community. It is different from almost all other agencies this Congress deals with. Only from workers within these programs are we likely to learn about improprieties. Given the fact that there are tens of thousands of Federal employees and contractors who work for the intelligence community elements, it is not realistic to expect the IC inspector general to be able to receive and investigate effectively any and all valid complaints from conscientious internal whistleblowers through a single investigator, no matter how talented that investigator may be. This $2 million reallocation of funds will help the community whistleblowing and source protection directorate hire more needed additional investigators and support staff and will fund outreach and education efforts across the intelligence community.…”