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Letter Urging Whistleblower Protection

The Brennan Center and nearly 50 other civil rights organizations sent a letter to both houses of Congress urging swift restoration of whistleblower protections for Intelligence Community (IC) contractors. Despite a proven track record, protections for IC contractors were rolled back in 2012, leaving IC contractors and the American public at risk.

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    December 1969
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1 CcLober 30, 2014 1he Ponorable Carl Levln 1he Ponorable !ames lnhofe Chalrman and 8anklng Member SenaLe CommlLLee on Armed Servlces 228 8ussell SenaLe Cfflce 8ulldlng WashlngLon, uC 20310 1he Ponorable Poward º8uck" Mckeon 1he Ponorable Adam SmlLh Chalrman and 8anklng Member Pouse CommlLLee on Armed Servlces 2120 8ayburn Pouse Cfflce 8ulldlng WashlngLon, uC 20313 1he Ponorable ulanne lelnsLeln 1he Ponorable Saxby Chambllss Chalrman and 8anklng Member SenaLe SelecL CommlLLee on lnLelllgence 211 ParL SenaLe Cfflce 8ulldlng WashlngLon, uC 20310 1he Ponorable Mlke 8ogers 1he Ponorable C.A. ºuuLch" 8uppersberger Chalrman and 8anklng Member Pouse ÞermanenL SelecL Comm. on lnLelllgence PvC-304 u.S. CaplLol 8ulldlng WashlngLon, uC 20313 uear Chalrmen and 8anklng Members: 1he underslgned organlzaLlons wrlLe Lo urge you Lo swlfLly resLore besL pracLlce whlsLleblower proLecLlons for lnLelllgence CommunlLy (lC) conLracLors by supporLlng SenaLe AmendmenL (SA) 3711, lnLroduced by SenaLor Clalre McCasklll (u-MC) for lncluslon ln Lhe naLlonal uefense AuLhorlzaLlon AcL for llscal ?ear 2013 (l?2013 nuAA). lC conLracLors are currenLly defenseless agalnsL reLallaLlon when Lhey dlsclose governmenL wasLe, fraud, abuse, gross mlsmanagemenL or a vlolaLlon of law. ln Lhe absence of adequaLe proLecLlons, Lhey have only Lwo alLernaLlves Lo almosL cerLaln reLallaLlon: 1) remaln sllenL observers of wrongdolng, or 2) make anonymous leaks. WhlsLleblowers musL be free Lo reporL abuses of power LhaL beLray Lhe publlc LrusL wlLhouL fear. lL ls lmperaLlve LhaL Congress qulckly flll Lhls accounLablllLy loophole. ln 2007 whlsLleblower rlghLs were enacLed for all ueparLmenL of uefense (uou) conLracLors, lncludlng Lhe uefense lnLelllgence Agency and Lhe naLlonal SecurlLy Agency (nSA), Lhrough Lhe l?2008 nuAA. ln 2009, whlsLleblower rlghLs were enacLed for all conLracLed employees pald wlLh sLlmulus funds, lncludlng oLher lC agencles llke Lhe CenLral lnLelllgence Agency. 1he whlsLleblower proLecLlons were successful ln deLerrlng Laxpayer wasLe and conLracLor abuse, and Lhe Councll of lnspecLors Ceneral for lnLegrlLy and Lfflclency proposed !"#$%&"&' ")!%&*+,& -,# %.. /,0"#&$"&' 1,&'#%1',#*. SenaLor McCasklll lnLroduced a whlsLleblower proLecLlon amendmenL for all governmenL conLracLors, and won blparLlsan SenaLe approval ln Lhe l?2013 nuAA. Powever, durlng Lhe closlng conference commlLLee negoLlaLlons of Lhe l?2013 nuAA, besL pracLlce rlghLs were enacLed for all employees ")1"!' Lhose ln Lhe lC. ÞreexlsLlng rlghLs for lC conLracLors were removed, desplLe a proven Lrack record LhaL Lhe law was worklng as lnLended and dld noL produce 2 any adverse lmpacLs on naLlonal securlLy durlng lLs flve-year llfespan. 8ased on Lhe Lrack record, Lhere ls no subsLanLlve pollcy argumenL for rolllng back Lhose exlsLlng rlghLs. ConLrary Lo concerns LhaL courL access would cause naLlonal securlLy leaks, none even has been alleged. ConLrary Lo predlcLlons LhaL lnLelllgence whlsLleblowers would flood Lhe courLs, 23 cases were flled from 2008 Lhrough 2012 under Lhe uou conLracLor provlslon, lncludlng from Lhe lnLelllgence CommunlLy. 1he experlence wlLh Lhe nuAA ls noL unlque. Slnce 1986 lC employees have had Lhe rlghL Lo flle lalse Clalms AcL lawsulLs challenglng fraud ln governmenL conLracLs, and Lo defend Lhemselves ln courL agalnsL reLallaLlon. 1haL LesL has been passed wlLhouL any allegaLlons of negaLlve slde effecLs. AccounLablllLy should be exLended beyond fraud, Lo cover wasLe and abuse as well. Slmllarly, 12 Llmes slnce 2002, Congress has lncluded besL pracLlce whlsLleblower proLecLlons as enforcemenL cornersLones of ma[or remedlal laws coverlng vlrLually Lhe enLlre prlvaLe secLor, wheLher or noL Lhere ls a governmenL conLracL. 1 none has loopholes for acLlvlLles lnvolvlng Lhe lnLelllgence CommunlLy. Agaln, Lhere ls no record of any naLlonal securlLy concerns resulLlng from Lhese longsLandlng precedenLs. CorrecLlng Lhls obvlous vold ls essenLlal for preservlng our democracy, because Lhe sLakes could noL be hlgher for our naLlon when deallng wlLh lnLelllgence agency mlsconducL. 1he counLry cannoL afford for lC conLracLors Lo remaln sllenL ln Lhe face of evldence of wrongdolng, wheLher Lhe abuse breaches securlLy, LhreaLens freedom, spreads corrupLlon, or all of Lhe above. Congress musL be able Lo hear from lnslders who have crlLlcal lnformaLlon regardlng problems wlLh lnLelllgence operaLlons. Lqually lmporLanL, whlsLleblowers should have Lhe legal rlghL Lo safely bear wlLness Lo law enforcemenL offlcers and Lo work wlLhln lnsLlLuLlonal checks and balances. 1hey reporL mlsconducL Lo make a dlfference, and Lhose are Lhe channels LhaL dellver resulLs. Accordlng Lo an lnvesLlgaLlon by 1op SecreL Amerlca, close Lo 30 percenL of Lhe lC workforce ls conLracLors. 2 1he lnvesLlgaLlon was parLlally based on lnLervlews wlLh offlclals from Lhe lC conLracLor communlLy. Powever, Lhe WashlngLon ÞosL reporLed LhaL º[m]osL requesLed anonymlLy elLher because Lhey are prohlblLed from speaklng publlcly or because, Lhey sald, Lhey feared reLallaLlon aL work for descrlblng Lhelr concerns." 3 Slx monLhs afLer lC conLracLor rlghLs were rolled back, nSA conLracLor Ldward Snowden dlsclosed Lo [ournallsLs Lhe u.S. governmenL's sweeplng domesLlc survelllance programs. When asked why he dldn'L work wlLhln Lhe sysLem Lo blow Lhe whlsLle, he clLed Lhe severe reLallaLlon LhaL prevlous lC whlsLleblowers experlenced when Lhey worked Lhrough lnsLlLuLlonal channels wlLhouL rlghLs. 1he chllllng effecL on Lhose who are ln a poslLlon Lo dlsclose mlsconducL ls poLenL, and lL lnhlblLs Congress' ablllLy Lo conducL meanlngful overslghL. 1 lncludlng Lhe: Sarbanes-Cxley AcL, Lnergy Þollcy AcL, l?2007 naLlonal uefense AuLhorlzaLlon AcL (ueparLmenL of uefense conLracLors, lncludlng conLracLor whlsLleblowers aL Lhe naLlonal SecurlLy Agency and uefense lnLelllgence Agency), 9-11 Commlsslon AcL amendlng sLaLuLes for rall safeLy, Lrucklng safeLy, and mass LranslL safeLy, Amerlcan 8ecovery and 8elnvesLmenL AcL (for all sLaLes and conLracLors recelvlng sLlmulus funds, lncludlng all Lhose ln Lhe lnLelllgence CommunlLy), Consumer ÞroducL SafeLy lmprovemenL AcL, luA lood SafeLy and ModernlzaLlon AcL, Affordable Care AcL, and, uodd-lrank Wall SLreeL 8eform and Consumer ÞroLecLlon AcL. 2 hLLp://pro[ecLs.washlngLonposL.com/Lop-secreL-amerlca/arLlcles/a-hldden-world-growlng-beyond-conLrol/ 3 hLLp://pro[ecLs.washlngLonposL.com/Lop-secreL-amerlca/arLlcles/a-hldden-world-growlng-beyond-conLrol/ 3 1he resLoraLlon of lC conLracLor whlsLleblower proLecLlons would help Lo safeguard bllllons of Laxpayer dollars ln governmenL conLracLs, granLs and relmbursemenLs annually, and lL would lncenLlvlze lC conLracLor whlsLleblowers Lo work wlLhln Lhe sysLem Lhrough legally proLecLed publlc dlsclosures. 1here cannoL be any doubL abouL Lhe consequences of congresslonal acLlon, or lnacLlon, on whlsLleblower rlghLs. ln order Lo beLLer proLecL Laxpayer dollars, our counLry, and Amerlcans' prlvacy, Congress musL resLore whlsLleblower proLecLlons for lC conLracLors Lhrough passage of SA 3711. Slncerely, Amerlcan Clvll LlberLles unlon 8arry Commoner CenLer for PealLh and Lhe LnvlronmenL 8lll of 8lghLs uefense CommlLLee 8rennan CenLer for !usLlce CenLer for ulglLal uemocracy CenLer for llnanclal Þrlvacy and Puman 8lghLs CenLer for Medla and uemocracy ClLlzens for 8esponslblllLy and LLhlcs ln WashlngLon (C8LW) ClLlzens' LnvlronmenLal CoallLlon ConnecLlCCSP ConsLlLuLlonal Alllance Consumer AcLlon Consumer WaLchdog uefendlng ulssenL loundaLlon uownslzeuC.org urum Ma[ors for 1ruLh Lqual !usLlce Alllance LssenLlal lnformaLlon llredoglake.com lreedom of Lhe Þress loundaLlon lund for ConsLlLuLlonal CovernmenL Colden 8adge CovernmenL AccounLablllLy Þro[ecL Cun Cwners of Amerlca Puman 8lghLs WaLch lnLernaLlonal AssoclaLlon of WhlsLleblowers kaLz, Marshall & 8anks, LLÞ LlberLy CoallLlon naLlonal lorum Cn !udlclal AccounLablllLy naLlonal Councll for CccupaLlonal SafeLy and PealLh naLlonal LmploymenL Lawyers AssoclaLlon naLlonal 1axpayers unlon nL1WC8k (A naLlonal CaLhollc Soclal !usLlce Lobby) 4 new !ersey Work LnvlronmenL Councll Cpen1heCovernmenL.org CrganlzaLlons AssoclaLlng for Lhe klnd of Change Amerlca 8eally needs (CAk) ÞaLlenL Þrlvacy 8lghLs ÞLn Amerlcan CenLer Þower Cver ÞoverLy under Laws of Amerlca 8esLored (ÞCÞuLA8) Þrlvacy 1lmes Þro[ecL Cn CovernmenL CverslghL Þubllc ClLlzen 1he 8uLherford lnsLlLuLe Sclencecorps SLaLe CommunlLy Counclls SunllghL loundaLlon 1axpayers ÞroLecLlon Alllance unlLed SupporL and Memorlal for Workplace laLallLles (uSMlW) WhlsLleblower SupporL lund CC: 1he Ponorable 1homas 8. Carper, Chalrman SenaLe Pomeland SecurlLy and CovernmenLal Affalrs CommlLLee 1he Ponorable 1homas A. Coburn, 8anklng Member SenaLe Pomeland SecurlLy and CovernmenLal Affalrs CommlLLee 1he Ponorable uarrell L. lssa, Chalrman Pouse CverslghL and CovernmenL 8eform CommlLLee 1he Ponorable Lll[ah L. Cummlngs, 8anklng Member Pouse CverslghL and CovernmenL 8eform CommlLLee 1he Ponorable Charles L. Crassley, Chalrman SenaLe CommlLLee on Lhe !udlclary