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Washington, D.C.—The leader of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today hailed the House for approving legislation that would strengthen whistleblower protections for federal employees, including those in the national security arena and the thousands who work for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

“With the administration’s focus on restoring the public’s faith in government and transparency of government operations, enhanced whistleblower rights are essential for the success of the federal stimulus program, as well as the success of future government operations,” said NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said.

Introduced as an amendment by Reps. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Todd Platts (R-Pa.) to the federal economic stimulus package, the measure is the first major reform of federal whistleblower laws in 18 years and cures numerous weaknesses in existing law by:

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creating procedures for federal employee whistleblowers to have their cases heard in federal court and allowing all circuits of the appellate courts to review whistleblower cases;

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closing the loopholes which have prevented national security whistleblowers from obtaining protections; and

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legislatively overturning the Supreme Court’s Garcetti v. Ceballos decision, which prevented government whistleblowers from obtaining first amendment protection when they reported concerns “internally” through their chain of command.

President Kelley said expanded whistleblower rights for TSA employees have been a major goal of the union in its TSA representational efforts. “This is a critical matter not only for TSA employees, but for the traveling public whose daily safety and security rests in their hands,” she said. NTEU represents thousands of TSA employees at eight of the nation’s busiest airports.

Kelley commended the House for passing the bipartisan amendment and looks forward to Senate action in the near term. “Whistleblowers perform a vital function in highlighting instances of waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement and more,” she said.

NTEU has a long history of supporting expansive whistleblower rights and has been working in coalition with numerous national whistleblower advocacy groups to get the best legislation possible toward securing, maintaining and protecting the free speech rights of federal workers.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.