Lawmaker plans bill protecting national security whistleblowers

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said Thursday that he plans to introduce a bill that would protect national security whistleblowers, including those in agencies that have not had such protections, from retaliation.

The legislation would apply to all federal employees, contractors and private sector workers who report homeland security or national security flaws, threats to public health and safety, violations of laws or regulations, or waste, fraud and mismanagement to their employer, the Government Accountability Office, a government agency or Congress. The bill also would criminalize retaliation against whistleblowers, with a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

Markey said national security whistleblowers should have the same kinds of protections as private employees at corporations under the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

"While Congress has provided whistleblower rights to those who protect shareholders, it has failed miserably to provide whistleblower rights to workers who protect 280 million American citizens," he said during a press conference. "It seems to me that this is the least that we can do to protect those who risk their livelihoods and their families to protect us."

The legislation would apply to workers who currently have no such protections, such as employees at the FBI and the CIA, aviation security screeners with the Transportation Security Administration, and nuclear reactor security guards.

Under the legislation, problems would be reported to the Labor Department. If the department fails to act on a case within six months, workers would have the right to bring a case in civil court and, if successful, be entitled to compensatory and punitive damages.

If the government tries to prevent the case from being heard, then judgment would be automatically in favor of the whistleblower, Markey said.

Markey asked for similar language to be included in House DHS authorization bill, which was passed by the House Homeland Security Committee earlier this week. The language, however, was defeated along party line votes.