http://www.opednews.com/articles/Most-Historic-Day-for-Whis-by-James-Mur...

June 5, 2008 at 01:20:12

Promoted to column top on 6/5/08:
Most Historic Day for Whistleblowers: 112 Public Groups Unite!

by James Murtagh Page 1 of 1 page(s)

http://www.opednews.co

In unity of public interest groups, 112 organizations united today to ask Congress to finally enact into law the most comprehensive Whistleblower Act in U.S. history.

Washington D. C. June 5, 2008- In a letter unveiled today by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) legal director, Mr. Tom Devine Esq., huge numbers of public interest groups from every sector of American society, from every part of the country, united with National Public Interest groups from Washington in the completely unanimous request.

“Millions of Americans have spoken, in a mind-boggling show of unity” stated Mr. Mike McCray, Esq., co-leader of the Intenational Association of Whistleblowers (IAW): “Citizen groups on both the right and the left have united. Whistleblowers protect the health, safety, environment, civil rights and the rule of law in our society. By protecting whistleblowers, we protect our citizens and our society.”

“We still have a long way to go,” stated IAW co-chair Dr. James Murtagh. “But this is an essential first step to restore essential American security and values. We greatly hope that all presidential candidates will embrace the values of this bipartisan legislation.”

The 112 groups believe that every truth-teller acting in the public interest must be protected by law. “The current WPA is imperfect,” continued Murtagh, “But it is an absolutely essential first step.”

The Whistleblower legislation is universally endorsed by good government groups, from Public Citizen to the ACLU to the Make It Safe Coalition (MISC), the Liberty Coalition (LC), the International Association of Whistleblowers (IAW) and Doctors coalitions led by the Semmelweis Society International (SSI), and many other non-alligned public interest groups, representing millions of Americans.

This letter, addressed to Sen. Joseph Lieberman; Sen. Susan Collins; Sen. Daniel Akaka; Sen. George Voinovich; Rep. Henry Waxman; Rep. Tom Davis; Rep. Todd Platts; Rep. Chris Van Hollen asked for rapid enactment of the Whistleblower Protection Act, a landmark, eight-year legislative effort to restore a credible Whistleblower Protection.

The 112 united groups ask Congressional support to “expeditiously conclude the process of reconciling House nd Senate passed versions of this vital good government legislation, H.R. 985 and S. 274. “
Essential provisions of this bill would:

o Grant employees the right to a jury trial in federal court;

o Specifically protect federal scientists who report efforts to alter, misrepresent, or suppress federal research;

o Extend meaningful protections to FBI and intelligence agency whistleblowers;

o Strengthen protections for federal contractors, as strong as those provided to DoD contractors and grantees in last year's defense authorization legislation;

o Extend meaningful protections to Transportation Security Officers (screeners);

o Neutralize the government's use of the “state secrets” privilege;

o Bar the MSPB from ruling for an agency before whistleblowers have the opportunity to present evidence of retaliation;

o Provide whistleblowers the right to be made whole, including compensatory damages;

o Grant comparable due process rights to employees who blow the whistle in the course of a government investigation or who refuse to violate the law; and

o Remove the Federal Circuit's monopoly on precedent-setting cases.

As noted by the unity letter: “Once the reconciled version becomes law, the real winners will be the public! “

112 public interest groups urge all Americans to write their Congresspersons and demand enactment of the WPA. Public safety depends on swift action.

For a complete text of the letter, see the Government Accountability Project at click.

Complete listing of the 112 united groups endorsing the WPA support letter:

Action for a Clean Environment ; Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility ;
Alliance for Patient Safety ; American Association for Justice (AAJ) ; American Association of Law Libraries ; American Association of Small Property Owners ;
American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression ;American Civil Liberties Union ; American Federation of Government Employees ; American Society of Journalists and Authors ; Atlanta WAND (Women's Action for New Directions) ; Bill of Rights Defense Committee ; Center for Biological Diversity ; Center for Corporate Policy ; Center for Democracy and Technology ; Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights ; Center for Science in the Public Interest ; Center to Advance Human Potential; Circumpolar Conservation Union; Citizen Action New Mexico ; Citizens Awareness Network ; Coalition on Political Assassinations; 9/11 Research Project ; 3.5.7 Commission on Judicial Reform ; Common Cause ;Community Service Organization del Norte ; Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety; Concerned Foreign Service Officers; Congress Against Racism & Corruption in Law Enforcement (CARCLE) ;Consumers Union ; Defenders of Wildlife ; Defending Dissent Foundation; Disaster Accountability Project; Education Writers Association; EnviroJustice ;Environmental Defense Institute; Essential Information; Ethics in Government Group; Federation of American Scientists; Feminists For Free Expression; Focus-On-Indiana for Judicial Reform; Food and Water Watch; Food Not Bombs/Atlanta; Foundation for Global Community/Atlanta; Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers); Fund for Constitutional Government; Georgians for Open Government; Global Green USA; Government Accountability Project; Grandmothers for Peace, San Luis Obispo County Chapter; Green Party of the United States; HALT, Inc. -- An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform; Hanford Challenge; Health Integrity Project; Institute for Energy and Environmental Research; Integrity International; International Association of Whistleblowers;Iranian American Democratic Association; James Madison Project; Justice Through Music; Liberty Coalition;Micah's Mission; The Multiracial Activist; National Accountant Whistleblower Coalition; National Association of Science Writers; National Coalition Against Censorship; National Consumers League; National Employment Lawyers Association; National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc.; National Research Center for Women & Families;National Taxpayers Union ;National Treasury Employees Union; National Whistleblower Center; National Women's Health Network;NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; New Grady Coalition; New Jersey Work Environment Council; Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York; Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS); Nuclear Information and Resource Service ;OMB Watch; OpenTheGovernment.org; OSC Watch; Our Bodies Ourselves; Patrick Henry Center; Peace Action & Peace Action Education Fund; Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice; Privacy International; Professional Inventor's Alliance; Project On Government Oversight; Proposition One Committee ;Public Citizen ;
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility;The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Reproductive Health Technologies Project;The Rutherford Institute ;Safe Water Colorado and Nuclear Nexus Projects; The Semmelweis Society International (SSI); Society of Professional Journalists;The Student Health Integrity Project (SHIP); Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN); Taxpayers Against Fraud; Truckers Justice Center; Union of Concerned Scientists; U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation; U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.PIRG); Veterans Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition;We the People, Inc; Western Organization of Resource Councils; Whistleblower Mentoring Project; Whistleblowers USA; WoodyMatters

Also, we urge all citizens to join the IAW at:

Take action -- click here to contact your local newspaper or congress people:
Support the Whistleblower protection act

Click here to see the most recent messages sent to congressional reps and local newspapers