Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her work as chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Again, I give…”

“I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for her work as chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Again, I give her my deepest appreciation for the enormous legacy of leadership that she has given to issues of empowerment, civil rights, civil liberties, and the rights of women. I thank Chairwoman Maloney. I rise today to support the underlying bill, H.R. 2988, and address my amendment, of which I am very grateful has been included in the en bloc. It does make a difference. Whistleblowers can help change governments for the best. They are part of the constitutional infrastructure of ensuring due process and the rights of the vulnerable. My amendment reinforces the spirit of confidentiality by providing another way to communicate whistleblower information to an OIG that poses less risk of confidentiality being lost or being breached while not affecting existing mechanisms, especially in some cases when there is a concern about the threat of retaliation. A potential whistleblower might be unwilling to provide information for fear of consequences if their identity is disclosed. I am very glad to say that the Government Accountability Project is supporting my amendment. They wrote in their letter of support for my amendment: ``This is solid, commonsense legislation to restore what works if we let it.…”