The idea might not win approval with the rest of the Senate, but Republican lawmaker Chuck Grassley has put in a resolution for a new commemorative holiday for the United States — National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.
“Anything we can do to uphold whistleblowers and their
protection is the right thing to keep government
responsible,” said Grassley, who is famous for personally
aiding whistleblowers in their battles against rule-breaking
officials. “If you know laws are being violated and
money’s being misspent, you have a patriotic duty to report
it.”
30 July, the date suggested in the proposal, made jointly with
Democratic Senator Carl Levin, is not accidental. It marks the
235th anniversary of what was one of the earliest whistleblowing
regulations implemented anywhere — by the Founding Fathers in the
Continental Congress in the midst of the Revolutionary War.
“[I]t is the duty of all persons in the service of the United
States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof, to give the
earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any
misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers or
persons in the service of these states, which may come to their
knowledge,” said the bill, resolved on July 30, 1778.
The violations in question are eerily reminiscent of those
exposed this millennium in Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.
In 1777, the sailors present on the warship Warren complained
that the commander of the entire Continental Navy, Commodore Esek
Hopkins, treated captured British soldiers in “the most
inhuman and barbarous manner.” Congress suspended Hopkins,
upheld their complaint, and when the disgraced commander-in-chief
sued the whistleblowers for libel, he gave internal data to be
used in the case. The defendants won a resounding victory.
Although Hopkins’ political unpopularity may have had something
to do with the vigor which Congress supported the case against
him, but the legislation produced as a result was a landmark.
Grassley himself is a towering figure in US whistleblowing
history.
In 1986, the Iowa Senator authored a significant strengthening
the False Claims Act — which has allowed the government to claw
back nearly $30 billion dollars in money it was cheated out of by
contractors — increasing rewards for individuals who reported
unscrupulous companies. Grassley also co-authored the 1989
Whistleblower Protection Act, which prevented government
organizations from retaliating against those who reported
misdeeds. This decade, Grassley worked on an amendment to each of
these key pieces of legislation.
Already half-jokingly known as the ‘patron saint of
whistleblowers’, Grassley could now have his own day in the
calendar — providing senators agree with the initiative. Unlike
past times, when much of the whistleblowing fell on private
corporations, and indisputable government violations, in the
current political climate, considering that Bradley Manning’s
verdict also fell on the same day, and Edward Snowden remains at
large, the proposal is loaded with political symbolism.
But Stephen M. Kohn, the Executive Director of the National
Whistleblowers Center, says that whatever opinions people hold
about these specific cases, the practice is essential for a
functioning democracy.
“The Senate Resolution calls attention to the fact that our
nation’s Founding Fathers strongly supported whistleblowing, even
in time of war, and even when the whistleblower allegations
threatened to embarrass high-ranking officials. The action of our
Founding Fathers sets a benchmark for evaluating how our current
leaders treat whistleblowers,” said Kohn.
Republished from: RT