National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Encyclopedia
The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in 2004 by former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds
in league with over 50 former and current United States
government officials from more than a dozen agencies, is an independent, nonpartisan
alliance of whistleblower
s who have come forward to address weaknesses of US security agencies.
[ R
-PA
] as a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was redrafted to incorporate some minor phrasing adjustments and was reintroduced as H.R. 3097 on June 28, 2005. It was immediately referred to the House Committee on Government Reform, but as of mid-2007, no further action had been taken on the redraft.
On June 29, 2006, H.R. 1317 was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services's Subcommittee on Readiness and to the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight. Both committees granted extensions for further consideration of the bill, with the last one being a three-week extension granted on November 17, 2006 by the House Committee on Armed Services. The Homeland Security committee was discharged the same day. As of mid-2007, no further action had been taken.
If enacted as law, the bill would clarify the categories of disclosure covered by the Whistleblowers Protection Act, reduce the standard of proof of illicit activity that a whistleblower needs to have before they are entitled to the law's protection, outlaw non-disclosure agreements for federal employees that do not include exemptions for whistleblowers, or that limit other disclosures allowed under open government legislation, and increase the burden of proof needed to discipline managers who allegedly retaliate against those making disclosures. The bill also calls for a study of security clearance revocations to be conducted and a report on the study delivered to the House Committee on Government Reform.
In a letter to the NSWBC, Rep. Henry Waxman
(D-CA
) praised the coalition and pledged his support for legislation protecting national security whistleblowers:
Sibel Edmonds
Sibel Deniz Edmonds is a Turkish-American former FBI translator and founder of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition...
in league with over 50 former and current United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government officials from more than a dozen agencies, is an independent, nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
alliance of whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
s who have come forward to address weaknesses of US security agencies.
Coalition objectives
The NSWBC aims to aid and abet whistleblowers seeking to inform authorities of security vulnerabilities of US intelligence agencies, to counteract the intimidation of employees and the undermining of whistleblower credibility, and to uncover government waste, fraud, abuse and criminal conduct. The coalition is only for whistleblowers who have raised national security issues, not for government workers who have complaints that they were individually discriminated against or wrongly passed over for a promotion.Congressional action
On March 15, 2005, H.R. 1317, the Federal Employees Protection of Disclosures Act, was introduced by Rep. Todd PlattsRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
-PA
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
] as a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was redrafted to incorporate some minor phrasing adjustments and was reintroduced as H.R. 3097 on June 28, 2005. It was immediately referred to the House Committee on Government Reform, but as of mid-2007, no further action had been taken on the redraft.
On June 29, 2006, H.R. 1317 was referred to the House Committee on Armed Services's Subcommittee on Readiness and to the House Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Management, Integration, and Oversight. Both committees granted extensions for further consideration of the bill, with the last one being a three-week extension granted on November 17, 2006 by the House Committee on Armed Services. The Homeland Security committee was discharged the same day. As of mid-2007, no further action had been taken.
If enacted as law, the bill would clarify the categories of disclosure covered by the Whistleblowers Protection Act, reduce the standard of proof of illicit activity that a whistleblower needs to have before they are entitled to the law's protection, outlaw non-disclosure agreements for federal employees that do not include exemptions for whistleblowers, or that limit other disclosures allowed under open government legislation, and increase the burden of proof needed to discipline managers who allegedly retaliate against those making disclosures. The bill also calls for a study of security clearance revocations to be conducted and a report on the study delivered to the House Committee on Government Reform.
In a letter to the NSWBC, Rep. Henry Waxman
Henry Waxman
Henry Arnold Waxman is the U.S. Representative for , serving in Congress since 1975. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He is considered to be one of the most influential liberal members of Congress...
(D-CA
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
) praised the coalition and pledged his support for legislation protecting national security whistleblowers:
- "Let me state unequivocally that all federal government workers deserve whistleblower protection, none more so than national security whistleblowers. ...Our own government has concluded that they can be trusted to work on the most important law enforcement and intelligence projects in today’s post-9/11 environment. These officials are critical to our national defense. …For these reasons, I favor expanding the Whistleblower Protection Act to cover these employees and contractors as fully as possible, as well as making the retaliatory revocation of a security clearance a prohibited personnel practice."
See also
- Colleen Rowley
- Shawn CarpenterShawn CarpenterShawn Carpenter is an American Navy veteran and whistleblower who tracked down a Chinese cyberespionage ring that is code-named Titan Rain by the FBI...
- Daniel EllsbergDaniel EllsbergDaniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
- Mike German
- Project on Government OversightProject on Government OversightThe Project On Government Oversight , founded in 1981, is an independent non-profit organization in the United States which investigates and seeks to expose corruption and other misconduct. POGO assists whistleblowers and investigates federal agencies, Congress, and government contractors...
- Russ TiceRuss TiceRussell D. Tice is a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency...
- Thomas TammThomas TammThomas Tamm is a former lawyer in the United States Department of Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review during the period in 2004 when senior Justice officials fought against the widening scope of warrantless NSA surveillance—and was the anonymous initial whistleblower to The...
- Thomas Andrews DrakeThomas Andrews DrakeThomas Andrews Drake is a former senior official of the U.S. National Security Agency , decorated United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran, computer software expert, linguist, management and leadership specialist, and whistleblower. In 2010 the government alleged that he 'mishandled'...
External links
- NSWBC - National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (official website)
- H.R. 3097, the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act (current version; awaiting committee action)
- H.R. 1317, the Federal Employee Protection of Disclosures Act (first version; inactive)
- CumberLink.com - 'It's dangerous to blow the whistle', Francis Volpe, The Sentinel (August 9, 2005)
- GovExec.com - 'National security employees form whistleblowers coalition', Chris Strohm, Government ExecutiveGovernment ExecutiveGovernment Executive is an American trade magazine, founded in 1969. In 2009, the independent research firm Market Connections, Inc. cited the magazine as the number one publication read by federal managers...
(April 27, 2005) - IPSNews.net - 'Security Whistleblowers Demand End to Retaliation', William Fisher, Inter Press Service News Agency (May 11, 2005)
- JustACitizen.com - 'Names will be named if protections aren’t strengthened', Stephen Losey (May 02, 2005)
- NSWBC.org - 'New whistleblower law mired in Hill row', Shaun Waterman, UPI (June 16, 2005)
- NSWBC.org - 'The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition Demands Congressional Action: Congressman Waxman Pledges Support for National Security Whistleblowers' (June 30, 2005)
- WashingtonPost.com - 'Whistle-Blowers Urge Congress to Get Tougher on Retaliation', Stephen Barr, Washington Post (April 29, 2005)