To amend title 5, United States Code, to allow whistleblowers to disclose information to certain recipients.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support of H.R. 1064, and I want to thank the gentlewoman from California for her leadership on this effort. Any time that you support whistleblowers, it is a good day in Congress; and to do that a bipartisan way, with

the gentlewoman's leadership, is certainly a day that should be applauded. I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership.

Whistleblowers in the Federal Government should be able to tell their supervisor when something is going wrong. That is the truth, no matter what, especially in cases involving classified information which implies, Mr. Speaker, that it is a matter of national security.

Under the current law, whistleblowers dealing with classified information in the intelligence community can make protected disclosures to their supervisors. However, whistleblowers dealing with classified information outside of the intelligence community do not have the same protection.

With fewer legally-protected options, employees outside of the intelligence community may be more likely to make an illegal disclosure to people or entities without the proper security clearance.

Federal employees dealing with classified information outside of the IC community must be reassured that they can report wrongdoing to the appropriate people, including their supervisors.

With that protection, whistleblowers will be less likely to disclose protected sensitive information on waste, fraud, and abuse to the media or other entities or individuals without the proper security clearance.

This bill would allow whistleblowers to make protected disclosures of classified information to individuals within their chain of command, as the gentlewoman has already suggested.

There are very few conceivable circumstances in which a whistleblower complaint to a supervisor would jeopardize national security, but such disclosures are not currently protected.

There is no reasonable basis for concern about whistleblowers throughout the Federal Government having the right to contact individuals within their chain of command about waste, fraud, or abuse of a classified nature. These additional whistleblower protections will make it easier for Federal employees to do the responsible thing when it comes to classified disclosures.

I urge my colleagues to support this. I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1064) to amend title 5, United States Code, to allow whistleblowers to disclose information to certain recipients, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the measure before us.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I introduced this bill, along with the distinguished Congressman from North Carolina, Mr. Mark Meadows, to make it easier for whistleblowers to disclose wrongdoing. This bill would protect whistleblowers who report waste, fraud, or abuse, to their supervisors at a government agency.

Under current law, an employee would not be protected from retaliation for disclosing information to a supervisor, even if the employee reasonably believes it is necessary to expose a violation of a law, rule, or regulation. A whistleblower is currently only protected by law if they make their disclosures to the Office of Special Counsel, an Inspector General, Congress, the head of the whistleblower's agency, or an employee designated by the head of the agency.

Under this bill, an employee who is covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act could report alleged misconduct to any supervisor in their direct chain of command. This sensible change in law would allow employees to provide evidence of wrongdoing to a supervisor instead of requiring employees to report all the way up to the head of an agency or an inspector general.

This change in the law would protect employees who use the proper channels at their agency to report waste, fraud, and abuse. Employees in the intelligence community already have these whistleblower protections as a result of a Presidential policy directive issued in 2012. This bill would ensure that all federal employees have the same protections as whistleblowers in the intelligence community.

I urge my colleagues to support this important bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1064, as amended, and I yield back the balance of my time