Cummings Applauds Passage of Bill to Enhance Whistleblower Protections for Contractor and Grantee Employees

Dec 5, 2016
Press Release

Cummings Applauds Passage of Bill to  Enhance Whistleblower Protections for Contractor and Grantee Employees

 

Washington, DC (Dec. 5, 2016)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, spoke on the House floor today in support of S. 795, a bill to enhance whistleblower protections for contractor and grantee employees.

Cummings introduced the companion bill—H.R. 5920, the Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act—in the House of Representatives.

The bill would ensure that more employees are protected by giving subgrantees and personal services contractors the same whistleblower protections currently given to contractors, grant recipients, and subcontractors. The bill also would make protections for civilian contractors and grantees permanent.  These are protections that contractors and grantees of the Department of Defense already enjoy.

Below are Ranking Member Cummings’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, on the House floor today:

 

 

 

 

Floor Statement

Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings

 

S. 795, a Bill to Enhance Whistleblower Protections for Contractor and Grantee Employees

 

December 5, 2016

 

                I rise in strong support of S 795.  I introduced the House companion to this legislation, the Whistleblower Protections for Contractors Act. 

 

We are taking up the Senate measure today to make sure this bill can be signed by the President before the end of this Congress.  I want to thank Senator McCaskill for all of her hard work on this bill and Senator Johnson for all that he did. I would also like to thank Chairman Chaffetz for being an original cosponsor and helping to bring this bill to the floor today.

 

Whistleblowers are the front line of defense against waste, fraud, and abuse.  Employees who work on federal contracts and grants see firsthand when taxpayer money is being wasted. They risk their careers to challenge abuses of power and the mismanagement of government resources.  They must be protected against retaliation when they blow the whistle on wrongdoing. 

 

This bill would ensure that more employees are protected by giving subgrantees and personal services contractors the same whistleblower protections currently given to contractors, grant recipients, and subcontractors. This bill also would make protections for civilian contractors and grantees permanent.  These are protections that contractors and grantees of the Department of Defense already enjoy.

 

I urge every Member of Congress to stand up for whistleblowers, to stand up for good government, and to pass this legislation.

 

 

Issues: 
114th Congress