Q: Why do you work so hard to support whistleblowers?
A: I have more than 12 billion reasons. As a federal lawmaker, I serve as a steward of the public purse. One of my missions in Congress is to make sure hard-earned tax dollars are put to good use and protected from waste, fraud and abuse. Thanks to my 1986 whistleblower amendments to the False Claims Act, more than $12 billion have been returned to the U.S. Treasury. As far as I’m concerned, whistleblowers are true red-white-and-blue patriots who stick their necks out for the public good. I’ve often likened a whistleblower to a skunk who raids the Sunday afternoon picnic. Only whistleblowers are raising a stink for good reason. But blowing the whistle on wrongdoing by one’s employer or work colleagues isn’t going to help win a job promotion or build friendships. To the contrary, these folks in many ways risk it all to expose fraud. President Abraham Lincoln understood the value private citizens could make to expose fraud when he signed the original False Claims Act into law in 1863. At that time, it helped expose profiteers from bilking the Union Army. With my whistleblower updates, this 19th century anti-fraud tool continues to help Uncle Sam recoup billions of dollars in the 21st century.
Q: Why are you working to improve whistleblower incentives at the IRS?
A: Whistleblowers have helped expose some all-too-cozy relationships among defense and health care contractors with federal agencies. As a result of their courage, significant sums lost to fraud by those who do business with the federal government have been recovered on behalf of taxpayers. Unfortunately, one of the agencies that could benefit greatly from strong whistleblower incentives lacks them. Workers employed by the Internal Revenue Service aren’t given strong incentives to expose a loophole and blow the whistle on tax cheats. That’s why I’m working to advance legislation that would require the IRS to pay rewards to whistleblowers. My legislation would model an IRS rewards program on the False Claims Act. This is long overdue. One well-positioned whistleblower could expose millions of dollars of fraud. It could take IRS auditors years to catch that much cheating on their own. As the nation struggles to plug the federal deficit, pay for the War on Terrorism and prepare for the strain on the entitlement system with the looming retirement of the baby boom population, it’s all the more important to keep up aggressive enforcement of the laws that provide incentives and protections for fraud fighters on the front lines. Under current law, whistleblowers are empowered to file suit on behalf of the United States against those who fraudulently claim federal funds, including Medicare, Medicaid, disaster assistance and other benefits, subsidies, grants, loans and contract payments. It makes sense to extend similar protections and incentives to those working for the federal tax collection agency. As long as I’m in the U.S. Senate, I will work to make sure nothing happens to undermine the utility and strength of the False Claims Act. Don’t forget, I’ve got 12 billion reasons backing me up. And counting.