Q: What’s your most recent work to strengthen whistleblower protections?

A: Estimates show federal contractors outnumber roughly two million civilian employees in the federal workforce. In July I introduced bipartisan legislation to address gaps in existing federal law that leave millions of people who work as federal contractors vulnerable to reprisal if they report waste, fraud and abuse in federal agencies. As a longtime champion for whistleblowers, I’m pushing to close this loophole with Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. Our Expanding Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act is another step we can take to empower the millions of contractors who work for federal agencies to be the eyes and ears on behalf of the taxpayer. Whistleblowers provide a crucial layer of protection for the American public to ferret out fraud and mismanagement, from tax evasion, to securities law violations and patient safety. As a co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to support and encourage people to come forward with credible information to root out wrongdoing and help ensure the government works on behalf of the American people, not the other way around. Whistleblowers put their jobs and reputations on the line to tell the truth.

Earlier this year, I introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure whistleblower protections keep pace with the fast-growing Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. The rapid growth in AI would benefit from disclosures of wrongdoing brought forward by whistleblowers to hold the industry accountable and protect national security, public health, privacy and public safety. Employees working within the AI sector deserve whistleblower protections that would empower those helping to develop this new frontier of technology to report wrongdoing. AI has the potential to reshape daily life, our economy and the geopolitical landscape. My Artificial Intelligence Whistleblower Protection Act would provide explicit whistleblower protections for those developing and deploying AI across the economy. To date AI companies have fostered a chilling effect on current and former employees looking to make whistleblower disclosures to the federal government, including Congress. My bipartisan legislation strengthens federal laws to shield the communications of current and former employees who make disclosures. It also would provide relief for AI whistleblowers who suffer retaliation, including reinstatement, back pay and compensation for damages.

Q: How did your advocacy for whistleblowers get started?

A: For nearly five decades, I’ve led efforts on Capitol Hill to protect those who come forward to tell the truth. My oversight work digging under the hood of the Pentagon’s financial mess was prompted by civilian employees who blew the whistle on defense contractor fraud. That includes a staff analyst at the Department of Defense named Chuck Spinney who graced the cover of Time magazine in 1983 for blowing the whistle on billions of dollars of wasteful spending at the Pentagon and the practice of keeping two sets of books. He exposed the $750 billion dollar mismatch between the Pentagon’s Five Year Defense Program (FYDP) and budget. The bureaucrats were trying to squeeze ten pounds of manure into a five pound bag and got caught. I’ve been doggedly working to tighten the Pentagon’s fiscal leash ever since. Whistleblowers from across the federal bureaucracy who step forward to “commit the truth” – like Chuck Spinney and Ernie Fitzgerald – help hold government accountable to the American people. Since my first term in the Senate, my door is open to whistleblowers as part of my congressional oversight work. It also prompted me to write bipartisan landmark amendments in 1986 to beef up the False Claims Act, a tool deployed by President Abraham Lincoln to root out fraudsters during the Civil War. The qui tam amendments are the federal government’s #1 anti-fraud tool in its arsenal. To date, it’s helped recover more than $78 billion in fraud and deterred the loss of untold billions more over the last four decades. Last year, I wrote all 74 federal inspectors general to strengthen their whistleblower protections and stop using unlawful non-disclosure policies that stymie employees from reporting wrongdoing. I also recently wrote to President Trump urging that he protect whistleblowers while cutting federal waste, fraud, and abuse. Simply put, the work of whistleblowers is invaluable to American society. They are heroes among us who identify violations of law, gross mismanagement, negligence and threats to public health and safety. Whistleblowers who have the guts to stick their necks out to tell the truth – while putting their livelihoods and careers on the line – merit support and incentives under federal law for their bravery. Every year since the Reagan administration, I’ve called upon the president to hold a Rose Garden ceremony on Whistleblower Appreciation Day. Our nation owes these patriots a debt of gratitude. It also would send a clear message that retaliation for telling the truth will not be tolerated.

National Whistleblower Day is July 30.