On the recordDecember 5, 2016
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this bill, S. 795, a bill to enhance whistleblower protection for contractor and grantee employees. It is a bill with good bipartisan support in both Chambers of Congress. I really do applaud and thank, in particular, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the ranking member on our committee, who has helped champion this and point this out and lead our efforts in the House on this. In the House, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform considered an identical bill, the Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act, introduced by Ranking Member Cummings and myself, and the committee reported this legislation by unanimous consent. In the Senate, it has been Senators McCaskill and Ron Johnson who have worked arm in arm on this and are also very supportive of it. Today we bring up the Senate version of this bill to expedite its approval to get this bill to the President's desk. As you know, Mr. Speaker, whistleblowers are invaluable to the oversight work of Congress. We rely on people who are on the front lines seeing things as they truly are to provide information and blow the whistle when they see something going awry. They are one of our best sources of information about waste, fraud, and abuse within the Federal Government.…
