National Security Whistleblowers Demand Protection (Sibel Edmonds) Senate markup tomorrow

[mmonk]

President Obama, We have You on Record, Fulfill Your Promise





Sibel sent a letter to members of the NSWBC.



We are approaching ‘the day’ with the Senate Committee on the whistleblower protection legislation. The mark up is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, July 29, 10:00 a.m. EST. The White House seems to have backed off from their previous position. Here is what I just sent to my organization (highlight ‘organization’: www.nswbc.org ) members:

-snip-

Read it here

http://123realchange.blogspot.com/


And read the letter from the National Whistleblower Center

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500


Dear President Obama:

On May 8, 2007, your presidential campaign promised America’s whistleblowers in writing that you stood behind their need for legal protection and fully supported support federal court access and jury trials for all federal employees. The House of Representatives enacted these protections when it overwhelmingly passed H.R. 985 in a veto-proof, bipartisan manner. In another bipartisan effort, Representatives Van Hollen (D-MD), Waxman (D-CA), Towns (D-NY), Braley (D-IA), and Platts (R-PA) have reintroduced this bill as H.R.1507.

Now we need your help. While the House version of the bill is more inclusive, the Senate version lacks many key protections. The Senate bill currently lacks coverage for the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who participate in the global war on terror and oversee a budget well over $150 billion. Please stand by your promise and ensure that all federal employees receive comprehensive whistleblower protections.

The reason typically cited for denying court access for all federal employees is that it could create a national security risk. As current or former national security whistleblowers, we know this is not true. In an objective and independent review, the General Accounting Office (GAO) saw “no justification for treating employees at agencies differently from employees at other federal agencies except in rare national security cases.” This finding has held since 1996, and yet misinformation about extending full due process protections to national security whistleblowers is still pervasive today.


Read the rest here: http://123realchange.blogspot.com/2009/07/national-security-whistleblowers-demand.html


Go lend your support. The markup is scheduled for tommorrow.

[Mnemosyne]

1. KnR for greater visibility. n/t

[mmonk]

2. Thanks for both. This is a very important issue which strikes

at the heart of our democracy.

[annabanana]

3. This is a very important bill. Who better to help keep an eye on

WTF's going on in the bowels of the government than patriotic civil servents with nothing to gain and everything to lose? They should have first-rate protection when they speak out for the good of the country.

BIG k&r!

[slipslidingaway]

4. knr thanks for posting n/t