Washington, DC – The U.S. House of Representatives today approved a bi-partisan amendment, offered by Congressmen Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Platts (R-PA), to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will protect federal whistleblowers who take action to ferret out waste, fraud and abuse. Today’s action adds another layer of accountability in the most far-reaching economic stimulus measure to ever be considered by Congress.
“It is abundantly clear that we must make investments now to stimulate our economy, get people back to work and get our economy back on track,” Van Hollen said. “However, the American people deserve to know that these investments are being well-spent, and that’s why this bi-partisan whistleblower protection measure is so important.”
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 invests 550 billion dollars of public funds in important national priorities. To ensure that these funds are effectively spent and not lost through waste, fraud or abuse, Representatives Van Hollen and Platts offered their amendment to increase the bill’s whistleblower protections. The bill, as written, contained protections for state and local employees who report the misuse of these funds, but it did not effectively extend the same protections to federal employees. This bipartisan amendment corrects this omission.
The Van Hollen-Platts Amendment is supported by the Government Accountability Project, the American Federation of Government Employees and more than 260 public interest organizations committed to protecting workers and ensuring that government money is well-spent. In a letter sent to the President and Members of Congress in support of the amendment, the coalition wrote that "Whistleblower protection is a foundation for any change in which the public can believe. It does not matter whether the issue is economic recovery, prescription drug safety, environmental protection, infrastructure spending, national health insurance, or foreign policy. We need conscientious public servants willing and able to call attention to bureaucratic corruption on behalf of the taxpayers."