Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : LaBovick Law Firm, Florida : Federal False Claims Act, Qui Tam

Dear Readers,

Your help is requested today in an effort to take action in protecting whistleblowers. I received an email today from the organization Project for Government Oversight, and want to share this important  information with our loyal readers of the Whistleblower Law Blog.  It is a plea for concerned citizens to send a message TODAY to Congress and show support for passing legislation that gives protections to government employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse. Let your Congressperson know that you believe the House's "Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007"  (H.R. 985) offers stronger protections than the Senate's bill (S. 274).

Please click on the link below and send a message to Congress about this very important issue.  We also encourage you send to a "friend".  We can make this  a "viral" message of importance, to get more people involved in this critical issue.

http://ga6.org/campaign/wpa_2008

It takes only 3 - 4 minutes to complete the form and send to your Congress person and Senators.  

We are asking you to take action today.  June 12, 2008.

Thanks for your support of legislation that promotes whistleblowers coming forward without fear of retaliation.  Stopping Government fraud, abuse and waste should be the fundamental goal.

Brian
 

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Yesterday, the U.S. Senate, with a unanimous vote, passed the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act (S.274). This new law enhances the protection for federal employee whistleblowers.

Passage of S.274 now sets the stage for a conference between the House and Senate to agree final legislative language. On March 14, 2007 the House enacted the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (H.R. 985), which expanded the scope of whistleblower protections to national security related agencies, permitted employees to obtain jury trials in federal court, provided enhanced protections for federal contractors and protected employees who exposed misconduct to their managers.

According to the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the Whistleblower Protection Act reform has been struggling for eight years to reach the end of a convoluted approval process. Proud supporters include the bi-partisan efforts of Senators Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) Susan Collins (R-ME), Charles Grassley (R-IA), Carl Levin (D-MI) and Richard Durbin (D-IL). In 2004 and 2005 the bill passed committee, but was blocked by procedural holds. Last year Senators Levin and John Warner (R-VA) obtained its Senate approval as part of the Defense Authorization funding bill, but it was killed in the conference committee on the defense bill.
Unfortunately, the GAP also mentions that S. 274 does not contain five critical reforms passed in March by the U.S. House of Representatives in H.R. 985, co-sponsored by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-PA). The House-passed reforms include protection for national security whistleblowers at the FBI and intelligence agencies, protection for government contractors, protection for federal baggage screeners, jury trials for a fair day in court, and reinforced protections for federally-funded scientists. The House passed H.R. 985 by a 331-94 vote, a veto-proof majority, despite a threat to veto the legislation issued by the Bush administration the day prior to the vote.

All things considered we have made progress with this new legislation.  Let's see if Congress can continue to work together and do what is right in regards to this whistleblower legislation that aims at protecting our brave citizens that come forward and report fraud against their employers.

We're counting on our elected officials to make this a reality so that whistleblower rights can be enforced and protected.

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