FORUM: Rep. Issa, defend the federal whistleblowers

The General Services Administration junket to Las Vegas and the escalating "Fast and Furious" scandal have one key thing in common: they would not have come to light without the efforts of whistleblowers within the government.

Study after study shows that whistleblowers are our best defense for detecting waste, fraud and abuse. But the system that protects federal workers who can help to fix our government is broken.

Rep. Darrell Issa, of California's 49th district, has led the way in advancing legislation to resolve these flaws. However, taxpayers need his help to make certain federal whistleblowers don't end up with another system that does not properly protect them.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (House Resolution 3289/Senate Bill 743) was passed by the Senate unanimously earlier this year, and Issa's bill is awaiting action in the House of Representatives. The legislation includes many excellent policies to stand behind taxpayers and whistleblowers, but the access to court provisions must be improved if it's really going to function effectively. Every private-sector whistleblower protection law passed by Congress in the last decade includes a right to a jury trial and normal appeals process, which the current bill fails to include.

Legitimate federal whistleblowers ought to be allowed to have their day in court like everybody else. The current legislation has too many traps for a whistleblower who might pursue such an avenue: bench, not jury trials, a burden of proof that gives the upper hand to the government and makes more difficult than current law for a legitimate whistleblower to prove retaliation, and appeals that would only go to one inside-the-Beltway-court. Instead, whistleblowers must be allowed to appeal in their own districts.

The executive branch must not have the last say or the upper hand in deciding whether or not its own political appointees suppressed information of relevance to taxpayers.

If Issa wants federal workers to bravely stand up to government misdeeds, he should make sure they at least have the same legal shields as private sector whistleblowers and everyday citizens.

And as the original sponsor of HR 3289, he is in an ideal position to do so. Indeed, if the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee he chairs is to continue serving as a top-notch investigative body, equipped with the best possible information from whistleblowers, passage of a strong HR 3289 with solid court access provisions is imperative.

Now, more than ever, we need comprehensive whistleblower legislation to protect those who protect taxpayers.