Grassley Commemorates National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Grassley Commemorates National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today delivered remarks commending whistleblowers' role as our nation's greatest fraud fighters. Grassley, a co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, additionally introduced a Senate resolution recognizing July 30, 2024, as "National Whistleblower Appreciation Day."

Congress enacted our nation's first whistleblower protections on this day 246 years ago. Grassley, due to his dogged efforts to protect and strengthen those protections, has earned the moniker of "Patron Saint of Whistleblowers." Notably, his False Claims Amendment Act has recouped over $75 billion in taxpayer dollars that had been lost to waste, fraud and abuse. A transcript of Grassley's remarks is below.

It's an honor to be with you today.

I don't think I miss very many of these Whistleblower Days.

Today is Whistleblower Day.

If you want to know why that's July 30, it's because before there was a Congress of the United States, there was a Continental Congress. [And] on this day in 1778, the Continental Congress passed legislation protecting what was then known as whistleblowers at that time.

We ought to take this day to say that every day ought to be Whistleblower Appreciation Day.

I've asked every president since Ronald Reagan to have a Rose Garden ceremony honoring whistleblowers.

I want the people at the top of the government [in] the executive branch, all the way down to the bottom, [to know] that it's a privilege to honor people that say when something's wrong in our government.

They ought to be honored for it.

Now obviously, you know, from Ronald Reagan till now, we haven't had such a Rose Garden ceremony.

That's a shame, because presidents should view whistleblowers as making their job easier, not more difficult.

It's often the whistleblower who gives this unvarnished truth relating to government misconduct.

The most famous whistleblower I knew, now passed away, Ernie Fitzgerald, he said, "the only crime that whistleblowers commit is telling truths."

And once that misconduct's known, it can be taken care of, and a President ought to welcome that opportunity.

When fraud and waste are exposed, the executive branch should bend over backwards to eliminate it, not impede the information.

Instead, the executive branch often stupidly attacks the whistleblowers for courageously putting themselves out there, and in a lot of cases, out there to dry.

In other words, whistleblowers are often treated like --you've heard me say so many times at these speeches --you're treated like a skunk at a picnic, instead of the brave patriots that you are.

And for those in the FBI, just to give you a most recent example, like Marcus Allen, retaliation for whistleblowing is holding his security clearance hostage.

It reminds me of, maybe 30 years ago, Dr. Whitehorse came to me, because he wanted to expose the fact that science wasn't being used in the laboratories of the FBI, and a lot of people were convicted because of wrong information.

Now we've got a new laboratory out of that and maybe they're doing things right, but what did he get when he came forward.

He lost his badge; he lost his clearance; and he was escorted out.

That's the way the FBI treats people that are only doing what's right and making sure science is used by the FBI to make a determination of evidence to be presented to a court. It seems to be just common sense.

Let me give you some more recent examples.

Department of Homeland Security whistleblowers alerted me of this administration's failures to implement the DNA Fingerprint Act.

This failure allowed migrants with criminal histories to enter the United States unchecked, putting our communities and, most importantly, our very young, at risk.

The Department of Homeland Security has violated federal law.

The Office of Special Counsel substantiated the allegations and the retaliation against the whistleblowers for their disclosures.

On July 23 this year, I held an oversight roundtable to highlight the whistleblower disclosures and the resulting retaliation they've suffered.

To give another example, whistleblowers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) brought to light that the agency wasted millions of taxpayer dollars.

How so?

The ATF illegally misclassified Human Resource positions as law enforcement and paid these employees enhanced benefits they weren't entitled to.

Whistleblowers have also provided my office with records revealing the Department of Health and Human Services failed to vet sponsors for unaccompanied alien children.

They provided details never before known to the public.

On July 9 this year, I held another oversight roundtable with some of these various whistleblowers, giving them a public voice to share their stories for the benefit of saving kids in the future.

Agencies just don't like being exposed, as you know, apparently even if the lives of children are on the line.

We have to change this culture, and the people in this room are helping change that culture.

This isn't something Chuck Grassley does by himself, [it takes] brave people like you coming forward.

Whistleblowers recently provided me with internal FBI documents of State Department incompetence and obstruction.

Specifically, documents show that the State Department actively interfered with FBI investigations.

For instance, the State Department prevented the FBI from arresting known terrorists, members of Iranian proliferation networks and other criminals providing material support for Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program.

The Department did this because they didn't want the FBI's arrest of the Iranians to upset the pending Iran Nuclear Deal.

I made these FBI documents public on May 21, 2024, to provide the facts.

And most recently, I've made records and video public relating to the Trump assassination attempt.

I obtained those records from local law enforcement officers, and not from the federal government.

You've heard me say many times, the public's business ought to be made public.

After that assassination attempt, when the FBI didn't get me the information I wanted, I went and got it from the local people.

I got it before the FBI got the videos, and the public knows about it because people like you -- in this case, the local government -- are willing to come forward and say what the truth is.

The information that I've made public is usually because of whistleblowers.

The government rarely provides information to Congress upon request.

Simply put, that's a slap in the face to not just Congress, but to the American people we represent.

Accordingly, it's critically important that all federal agencies promote openness and transparency.

Transparency brings accountability, and we cannot have too much accountability in government.

The public's business ought to be public.

They must also ensure federal employees know their rights to blow the whistle on wrongdoing, including to the Congress.

That's why I've fought hard to ensure federal agencies include the anti-gag provision as required by law.

That provision is a notice to employees like you of their rights to disclose waste, fraud, abuse and misconduct to Congress, an Inspector General or the Office of Special Counsel.

For example, the ATF failed to provide this notification in guidance sent to their employees.

I demanded they issue updated guidance, which they subsequently did.

Further, in March of this year I wrote to all 74 Inspectors General requesting they conduct a review of their agency's nondisclosure policy, forms and similar agreements to ensure it includes the anti-gag provision as required by law.

The task of supporting whistleblowers doesn't start and stop with this very day, every year, that we honor whistleblowers.

It's a full time, year-round job.

Last year I talked about the legislation I've introduced.

From the Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Reform Act, to the False Claims Amendment Act, to the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act and many others.

Whistleblowers are brave men and women who perform an invaluable public service.

They must be protected.

All of you here today must be protected.

All of you are patriots, that I say so often, [and] for those of you who aren't here, [I say] the same.

Dating back to the Revolutionary War, as I just told you, the first whistleblowers reported fraud and misconduct.

Our Founding Fathers knew the importance of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.

As I stand here today in July 2024 - a long way's away from the Revolutionary War - the same sentiment remains and must remain.

I'm proud to have introduced the National Whistleblower Appreciation [Day] resolution for the 11^th year in a row on behalf of the entire Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus.

And I'll tell you this again.

One day, all of us together, we're going to get that Rose Garden ceremony.

Thank you very much.

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