Several senators reportedly are using "secret holds" to block passage of anti-corruption legislation that activists, concerned citizens and more enlightened members of Congress have been working for <strong>eight years</strong> to pass into law. The identities of the stonewallers are uncertain, but suspects include eight Republicans and the Senate Minority Leader (names provided below the fold.

 

A bipartisan group of Senate offices has agreed on a reconciliation bill that they are hoping to pass and send to the House of Representatives for final passage. The bill is critical to restoring integrity and fiscal responsibility in our federal government and previous votes indicate that the bill would pass with flying colors - but <strong>only if it could be presented for a vote before Congress leaves at the end of the week.</strong>

<blockquote><strong>The Suspects</strong>

 

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Minority Leader

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY)

 

Sen. Christopher Bond (R-MO)

 

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-NC)

 

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

 

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS)</blockquote>

 

Your help is needed to positively identify the culprits blocking legislation that is key to purging the federal government of waste, fraud and abuses such as the Wall Street disaster that threatens the future of the country.  (More information on the legislation is available <a href="http://www.WhistleblowerAction.org">here</a> (www.WhistleblowerAction.org)<br><br>

 

<strong>What you can do to help</strong>

 

1) Everyone who has a connection or constituent relationship with the above offices is being asked to make calls immediately to confirm whether they support the bill. For those who do not, please contact those in your networks to ask for their help.

 

2) Even if your Senator is not on the list, please call, as a concerned constituent, to confirm his or her support for the bill.<br><br>

 

<strong>How to help</strong>

 

Call the <strong>Capitol switchboard</strong> at 202-224-3121 or the Senate offices <a href="http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm">directly</a>  and use the following talking points:

 

If you learn that one of your senators is opposed to the bill, it would be additionally helpful if you passed word along to the Government Accountability Project (202-408-0034) which is coordinating coalition support for the legislation.)

 

<blockquote>Hello,

 

    * I am calling Senator X today as a concerned constituent and taxpayer to ask if the Senator is objecting to a critical government accountability bill to strengthen protections for federal employees when they witness waste, fraud and abuse.

 

    * Is the Senator holding, blocking or otherwise objecting to passage of Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act?

 

    * Please tell the Senator and relevant staff that I called today to urge immediate passage of the amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act being offered now.

 

    * Thank you.</blockquote><br>

 

<strong>231 public interest groups urge passage of bill</strong>

 

In a September 25 letter, <strong>231 public interest organizations</strong> expressed support for the legislation.  Below is a portion of the letter addressed to Sen. Joseph Lieberman; Sen. Susan Collins; Sen. Daniel Akaka; Sen. George Voinovich; Rep. Henry Waxman; Rep. Tom Davis; Rep. Todd Platts; and Rep. Chris Van Hollen,

 

<blockquote>The undersigned organizations, representing millions of Americans, write to support the completion of the landmark, eight-year legislative effort to restore a credible Whistleblower Protection Act. We offer our support to expeditiously conclude the process of reconciling House and Senate passed versions of this vital good government legislation, H.R. 985 and S. 274.

 

Unfortunately, every month that passes has very tangible consequences for scores of whistleblowers who still lack viable legal rights. In just the first three months of this year, since both chambers passed their versions of the legislation, whistleblowers have a 2-49 win-loss record in initial decisions from administrative hearings at the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). For final rulings by the MSPB, the record is 2-53 under the current Chair. Since January, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which has a monopoly on appellate review, has ruled against whistleblowers in another thirteen consecutive decisions on the merits, leaving a track record of 2-203 since October 1994 when Congress last strengthened the law! We stand ready to provide any information that would help expedite the process, and to help you come to agreement on any unresolved issues.

 

[snip]

 

We know that your offices share the commitment of every group signing the letter below and we deeply appreciate the years of effort to create more accountability in government. Please let us know how we can participate to expeditiously complete this badly needed good government

reform. Once the reconciled version becomes law, the real winners will be the public!

</blockquote>

The letter was signed by the following organizations and individuals:

 

Adele Kushner, Executive Director

Action for a Clean Environment

Pamela Miller, Director

*Alaska Community Action on Toxics

Dan Lawn, President

*Alaska Forum on Environmental Responsibility

Cindy Shogun, Executive Director

*Alaska Wilderness League

Susan Gordon, Director

*Alliance for Nuclear Accountability

Rochelle Becker, Executive Director

Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility

Gil Mileikowsky, M.D.

Alliance for Patient Safety

Linda Lipsen, Senior Vice President for Public Affairs

American Association for Justice (AAJ)

Mary Alice Baish, Acting Washington Affairs Representative

American Association of Law Libraries

F. Patricia Callahan, President and General Counsel

American Association of Small Property Owners

John W. Curtis, Ph.D., Director of Research and Public Policy

*American Association of University Professors

Christopher Finan, president

American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression

Caroline Fredrickson, Director, Washington Legislative Office

American Civil Liberties Union

Michael D. Ostrolenk

*American Conservative Defense Alliance

Dr. Paul Connett, Executive Director

*American Environmental Health Studies Project, Inc.

John Gage, National President

Page 3

American Federation of Government Employees

Charles M. Loveless, Director of Legislation

*American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

Mary Ellen McNish, General Secretary

*American Friends Service Committee

Caitlin Love Hills, National Forest Program Director

*American Lands Alliance

Jessica McGilvray, Assistant Director

*American Library Association

Alexandra Owens, Executive Director

American Society of Journalists and Authors

Charlotte Hall, President

*American Society of Newspaper Editors

Patricia Schroeder, President and CEO

*Association of American Publishers

Ms. Bobbie Paul, Executive Director

Atlanta WAND (Women's Action for New Directions)

Samuel H. Sage, President

*Atlantic States Legal Foundation, Inc.

Jay Stewart, Executive Director

*Better Government Association

Matthew Fogg, First Vice-President

*Blacks in Government

Nancy Talanian, Director

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Diane Wilson, President

*Calhoun County Resource Watch

Peter Scheer, Executive Director

*California First Amendment Association

Terry Franke, Executive Director

*Californians Aware

Page 4

Reece Rushing, Director of Regulatory and Information Policy

*Center for American Progress

William Snape, Senior Counsel

Center for Biological Diversity

Charlie Cray, Director

Center for Corporate Policy

Gregory T. Nojeim, Senior Counsel and

Director, Project on Freedom, Security & Technology

Center for Democracy and Technology

Joseph Mendelson III, Legal Director

*Center for Food Safety

J . Bradley Jansen, Director

Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights

Paul Kurtz, Chairman

*Center for Inquiry

Robert E. White, President

*Center for International Policy

Merrill Goozner, Director

Integrity in Science

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Linda Lazarus, Director

Center to Advance Human Potential

Craig Williams, Director

*Chemical Weapons Working Group & Common Ground

Leonard Akers

*Citizens Against Incineration at Newport

Evelyn M. Hurwich, President and Chair

Circumpolar Conservation Union

David B. McCoy, Executive Director

Citizen Action New Mexico

Doug Bandow, Vice President for Policy

*Citizen Outreach

Page 5

Deb Katz, Executive Director

Citizens Awareness Network

Barbara Warren, Executive Director

*Citizens' Environmental Coalition

Elaine Cimino

*Citizens for Environmental Safeguards

James Turner, Chairman of the Board

*Citizens for Health

Michael McCormack, Executive Director

*Citizens for Health Educational Foundation

Gerard Beloin

*Citizens for Judicial Reform

Laura Olah, Executive Director

*Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger

Anne Hemenway, Treasurer

*Citizen's Vote, Inc.

Rick Piltz

*Climate Science Watch

John Judge

Coalition on Political Assassinations

9/11 Research Project

Zena Crenshaw, 2

nd

Vice-Chair

3.5.7 Commission on Judicial Reform

Sarah Dufendach, Vice President for Legislative Affairs

Common Cause

Clarissa Duran, Director

Community Service Organization del Norte

Joni Arends, Executive Director

Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety

Lokesh Vuyyuru, MD, Founder

*Concerned Citizens of Petersburg

Page 6

Daniel Hirsch, Member, Executive Committee

Concerned Foreign Service Officers

Matthew Fogg, President

Congress Against Racism & Corruption in Law Enforcement (CARCLE)

Ellen Bloom, Director of Federal Policy

Ami Gadhia, Policy Counsel

Consumers Union

Bob Shavelson, Director

*Cook Inlet Keeper

Tonya Hennessey, Project Director

*CorpWatch

John Issacs, Executive Director

*Council for a Livable World

Anne Weismann, Chief Counsel

*CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Cathy Harris, Founder, Executive Director

*Customs Employees Against Discrimination Association

Mary Elizabeth Beetham, Director of Legislative Affairs

Defenders of Wildlife

Sue Udry, Director

Defending Dissent Foundation

Paul E. Almeida, President

*Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO

Ben Smilowitz, Director

Disaster Accountability Project

Dr. Patrick Campbell

*Doctors against Fraud

Dr. Disamodha Amarasinghe

*Doctors for National Healthcare

James J. Murtagh, Jr., President

*Doctors for Open Government

Page 7

Dr. John Raviotta

*Doctors for Reform of JCAHO

Stephen D'Esposito, President

*Earthworks

Thea Harvey, Executive Director

*Economists for Peace and Security

Lisa Walker, executive director

Education Writers Association

Gregory Hile

EnviroJustice

Chuck Broscious, President

Environmental Defense Institute

Judith Robinson, Director of Programs

*Environmental Health Fund

Peter Montague, Ph.D, Director

*Environmental Research Foundation

John Richard

Essential Information

George Anderson

Ethics in Government Group (EGG)

Gabe Bruno

*FAA Whistleblowers Alliance

Janet Kopenhaver, Washington Representative

*Federally Employed Women (FEW)

Steven Aftergood, Project Director

Federation of American Scientists

Marilyn Fitterman, Vice President

Feminists for Free Expression

Ellen Donnett, Administrative Director

*Fluoride Action Network

Andrew D. Jackson, Asst. Campaign Coordinator

Focus-On-Indiana for Judicial Reform

Page 8

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director

Food and Water Watch

Bob Darby, Coordinator

Food Not Bombs/Atlanta

Andy Stahl

*Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE)

Tom Ferguson, Coordinator

Foundation for Global Community/Atlanta

Ruth Flower, Legislative Director

Friends Committee on National Legislation (Quakers)

Conrad Martin, Executive Director

Fund for Constitutional Government

Karyn Jones, Director

*G.A.S.P

Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution

Gwen Marshall, Co-Chairman

Georgians for Open Government

Denny Larson, Executive Director

*Global Community Monitor

Paul F. Walker, Ph.D., Legacy Program Director

Global Green USA

(The US Affiliate of Green Cross International, Mikhail Gorbachev, Chairman)

Bill Owens, President

*The Glynn Environmental Coalition

Tom Devine, legal director

Government Accountability Project

Bill Hedden, Executive Director

*Grand Canyon Trust

Molly Johnson, Area Coordinator

Grandmothers for Peace, San Luis Obispo County Chapter

Alan Muller

*Green Delaware

Page 9

Jenefer Ellingston

Green Party of the United States

James C. Turner, Executive Director

HALT, Inc. -- An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform

Tom Carpenter, Executive Director

Hanford Challenge

Arthur S. Shoor, President

*Healthcare Consultants

Helen Salisbury, M.D.

Health Integrity Project

Vanessa Pierce, Executive Director

*Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL Utah)

Gerry Pollet

*Heart of America Northwest

Liz Havstad, Chief of Staff

*Hip Hop Caucus

Doug Tjapkes, President

*Humanity for Prisoners

Keith Robinson, Interim President

*Indiana Coalition for Open Government

Scott Armstrong, Executive Director

*Information Trust

Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D., President

Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

Donald Soeken, President

Integrity International

Michael McCray, Esq., Co-Chair

International Association of Whistleblowers

Mory Atashkar, Vice President

Iranian American Democratic Association

Page 10

Mark S. Zaid

James Madison Project

John Metz, Executive Director

*JustHealth

Brett Kimberlin, Director

Justice Through Music

Elizabeth Crowe, Director

*Kentucky Environmental Foundation

Tom FitzGerald, Director

*Kentucky Resources Council, Inc.

James Love

*Knowledge Ecology International

Josephine Carol Cicchini

*LeapforPatientSafety

Jonathon Moseley, Executive Director

*Legal Affairs Council

James Plummer

Liberty Coalition

Greg Mello, Executive Director

*Los Alamos Study Group

Dr. Janette Parker

*Medical Whistleblower

Jill McElheney, Founder

Micah's Mission

Ministry to Improve Childhood & Adolescent Health

Mary Treacy, Executive Director

*The Minnesota Coalition on Government Information

Helen Haskell

*Mothers Against Medical Error

Mark Cohn, President

*MPD Productions, Inc.

Page 11

James Landrith, Founder

The Multiracial Activist

Larry Fisher, Founder

National Accountant Whistleblower Coalition

Tinsley H. Davis, Executive Director

National Association of Science Writers

Jim L. Jorgenson, Deputy Executive Director

*National Association of Treasury Agents

Dominick DellaSala, Ph.D., Executive Director of Programs and Chief Scientist

*National Center for Conservation Science & Policy

Joan E. Bertin, Esq., Executive Director

National Coalition Against Censorship

Russell Hemenway, President

*National Committee for an Effective Congress

Sally Greenberg, Executive Director

National Consumers League

Terisa E. Chaw, Executive Director

National Employment Lawyers Association

Andrew Jackson

National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc.

Kim Gandy, President

*National Organization for Women

Paul Brown, Government Relations Manager

National Research Center for Women & Families

Sibel Edmonds, President and Founder

*National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

Pete Sepp, Vice President for Policy & Communications

National Taxpayers Union

Colleen M. Kelley, National President

National Treasury Employees Union

Steve Kohn, President

Page 12

National Whistleblower Center

Amy Allina

National Women's Health Network

Terrie Smith, Director

*National Nuclear Workers For Justice

Sr. Simone Campbell, SSS, Executive Director

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

Ron Marshall, Chairman

New Grady Coalition

Rick Engler, Director

New Jersey Work Environment Council

Caroline Heldman Ph.D., Director

*New Orleans Women’s Shelter

Marsha Coleman-Abedayo, Chair

*No FEAR Coalition

Nina Bell, J.D., Executive Director

*Northwest Environmental Advocates

Alice Slater, Director

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York

David A. Kraft, Director

Nuclear Energy Information Service (NEIS)

Michael Mariotte, Executive Director

Nuclear Information and Resource Service

Jay Coghlan, Executive Director

*Nuclear Watch New Mexico

Gwen Lachelt, Executive Director

*Oil & Gas Accountability Project

Sean Moulton, Director, Federal Information Policy

OMB Watch

Rob Kall

*Op Ed News

Page 13

Patrice McDermott, Executive Director

OpenTheGovernment.org

Paul Loney, President

*Oregon Wildlife Federation

Ellen Paul, Executive Director

*The Ornithological Council

Joe Carson, Chair

P. Jeffrey Black, Co-Chair

OSC Watch Steering Committee

Judy Norsigian, Executive Director

Our Bodies Ourselves

Betsy Combier, President and Editor

Parentadvocates.org

Ashley Katz, MSW, Executive Director

*Patient Privacy Rights

Blake Moore

*Patient Quality Care Project

Dianne Parker

*Patient Safety Advocates

Former Special Agent Darlene Fitzgerald

Patrick Henry Center

Paul Kawika Martin, Organizing, Political and PAC Director

Peace Action & Peace Action Education Fund

Bennett Haselton, Founder

*Peacefire.org

Rev. Paul Alexander, Ph.D., Director

Pentecostals & Charismatics for Peace & Justice

Michael McCally, MD, PhD, Executive Director

*Physicians for Social Responsibility

Vina Colley, President

*Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security (PRESS)

Page 14

David Banisar, Director, FOI Project

Privacy International

Robert Bulmash, President

*Private Citizen, Inc.

Ronald J Riley, President

Professional Inventor's Alliance

Dr. Paul Lapides

*Professors for Integrity

Danielle Brian, Executive Director

Project On Government Oversight

Ellen Thomas, Executive Director

Proposition One Committee

David Arkush, Director, Congress Watch

Public Citizen

Jeff Ruch, Executive Director

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

Robert L. FitzPatrick, President

*PYRAMID SCHEME ALERT

Lucy A. Dalglish, Executive Director

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

Kirsten Moore, President and CEO

Reproductive Health Technologies Project

Tim Little, Executive Director

*Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment

John W. Whitehead, president

The Rutherford Institute

Adrienne Anderson, Coordinator

Safe Water Colorado and Nuclear Nexus Projects

Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center

(Whistleblower Anderson v Metro Wastewater)

Angela Smith, Coordinator

*Seattle Healthy Environment Alliance (Seattle HEAL)

Page 15

Dr. Roland Chalifoux

The Semmelweis Society International (SSI)

Rufus Kinney

*Serving Alabama's Future Environment (SAFE)

Shane Jimerfield, Executive Director

*Siskiyou Project

Andrea Shipley, Executive Director

*Snake River Alliance

Matthew Petty, Executive Director

*The Social Sustenance Organization

Dave Aekens, National President

Society of Professional Journalists

Amy B. Osborne, President

*Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries

Don Hancock, Director of Nuclear Waste Safety Program

*Southwest Research and Information Center

Donna Rosenbaum, Executive Director

*S.T.O.P. - Safe Tables Our Priority

Kevin Kuritzky

The Student Health Integrity Project (SHIP)

Daphne Wysham, Co-Director

Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN)

Jeb White, Executive Director

Taxpayers Against Fraud

Alec McNaughton

*Team Integrity

Ken Paff, National Organizer

*Teamsters for a Democratic Union

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director

*Tri-Valley CAREs

Communities Against a Radioactive Environment

Page 16

Paul Taylor

Truckers Justice Center

Francesca Grifo, Ph.D., Director

Scientific Integrity Program

Union of Concerned Scientists

Dane von Breichenruchardt, President

U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation

Dr. Joseph Parish

*U.S. Environmental Watch

Gary Kalman, Director, Federal Legislative Office

U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S.PIRG)

Nick Mangieri, President

*Valor Press, Ltd.

Dr. Jeffrey Fudin, Founder

Veterans Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition

Tom Z. Collina, Executive Director

*20/20 Vision

Nada Khader, Foundation Director

*WESPAC Foundation

Gloria G. Karp, Co-Chair

*Westchester Progressive Forum

Mabel Dobbs, Chair

Livestock Committee

Western Organization of Resource Councils

Ann Harris, Executive Director

We the People, Inc

Janet Chandler, Co-Founder

Whistleblower Mentoring Project

Linda Lewis, Director

Whistleblowers USA

John C. Horning, Executive Director

*WildEarth Guardians

Page 17

Tracy Davids, Executive Director

*Wild South

Kim Witczak

WoodyMatters

Paula Brantner, Executive Director

*Workplace Fairness

 

Thank you to all of the above groups for their support of this very important legislation.

 

 

The week of May 12-16 will be an anxious one for government bureaucrats.  That's when whistleblowers and government watchdog groups will gather on Capitol Hill to reveal new scandals and shed fresh insights on past scandals.  Speakers will describe the immense challenges in reporting corruption and abuses of power - challenges that urgently require new legislation to protect truthtellers. 

A schedule of events is available on the website of the International Association of Whistleblowers, the organization coordinating the conference.  Muckraking journalists and interested citizens are invited to attend, free of charge.  Organizers say, "Pay no attention to the website's request for a registration fee," but please register in advance, if you can.

Event Schedule

Below is a summary of the schedule, plus last-minute details not available on the website.

Monday, May 12

The conference begins at the Stewart Mott House (122 Maryland Avenue, NE) with an opening plenary (8:30 am) followed by panels on domestic surveillance (9:00), aviation safety  and security (10:00), and scientific freedom (11:30).

At 1 p.m., at the Dirksen Senate Office Building (Rm 342), there will be a Congressional forum, "Congress at the Crossroads for Your Rights," describing recent gains in whistleblower rights and the rights that must yet be won.  Staffs or members of 12 Congressional officers are expected to attend. Following that will be a workshop called "Saving Public Hospitals" and a presentation by the Semmelweis Society, an organization of medical whistleblowers.

At 6:30 p.m., there will be a book signing and live music by a guitar duo, "The Senior Lifeguards," at The Warehouse Arts Center, 1017 Seventh Street, NW, (across from the Washington Convention Center).

Tuesday, May 13

This day's events begin at 9 a.m., at the Washington Court Hotel. They include forums on the Office of Special Counsel, judicial oversight, and a series of events sponsored by Taxpayers Against Fraud, an organization that works on "qui tam" cases.

TAF will have a luncheon with Mike Bhen, TAF Whistleblower Lawyer of the Year, followed by a Mentoring project (1:10), the presentation of a lifetime achievement award to Ernie Fitzgerald (2:00 pm), Successful Qui Tam Relator Workshop (2:00 pm), and a presentation, "The Good, the Bad & the Ugly," at 3:00 pm. The day concludes with a book signing by John Schilling of his book, "Undercover."

Wednesday, May 14

The Alliance for Patient Safety will have a forum and award ceremony at a time to be announced.

Thursday, May 15

A Citizens' Forum on Judicial Accountability starts off the day at 9:30 a.m., followed by a Judicial Accountability Debate. Next, there is a presentation by the Government Accountability Project, "From Immunity to Impunity:  Whistleblowers at International Organizations."  Judicial accountability testimony will be held at 1:15 p.m., followed by a workshop on lobbying in support of whistleblower legislation," and an IAW planning session for 2009.

Friday, May 16

Friday morning (time and place to be announced), there will be a presentation on the Whistleblower Archive Project, a whistleblower's retreat, and a session called "Blowing the Whistle on Mortgage Fraud."

The conference is foremost an opportunity for whistleblowers to network, to share their experiences and to use them to promote honest, efficient and cost effective government. As such, it is also an opportunity for concerned citizens to get a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of government. Without those insights, it is difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate the proposals offered by the Presidential candidates and various reform-minded groups.

Other diarists and bloggers are invited to pass along word of the event (and may quote as much of this diary as desired).

Minnesota's Pioneer Press reportedly has refused to print an an op-ed supportive of Coleen Rowley, Democratic candidate for the 2nd District. The Press having endorsed Republican incumbent John Kline, apparently fears an upset if it publishes the pro-Rowley commentary by Tom Devine, a well-known advocate of accountability in government.

Like Mr. Devine, I have had the good fortune to know Ms. Rowley, and believe she would represent the people of Minnesota honestly and wisely. I therefore urge readers to spread the word by forwarding Mr. Devine's op-ed, with his permission, to friends and bloggers in Minnesota and elsewhere.

SEND MS. SMITH TO WASHINGTON

by Tom Devine

Too rarely, elections happen at the same time the public is mad as heck and not going to take it anymore. That creates an opportunity for real change. Whistleblowers are the pioneers of change, because they keep society from becoming stagnant by challenging conventional wisdom.

Former FBI agent Coleen Rowley is one of the most effective whistleblowers in history. Despite battling the nation's most Machiavellian bureaucracies, she somehow has retained the vision of a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington -- idealism combined with steely determination. Now she wants to channel that energy toward community service in Congress. How much could taxpayers' lives be bettered, if their congressperson were the gold standard on public service scales?

Those are strong superlatives, and high hopes. Who are whistleblowers, anyway? Aren't they nutty, disloyal troublemakers who are never satisfied? Well, it takes all kinds .... But legally, whistleblowers are employees who exercise free speech rights to challenge abuses of power that betray the public trust. In other words, they exercise freedom of speech when it counts. They help prevent avoidable disasters by the freedom to warn. They impose accountability through the freedom to protest. They help us to learn our lessons and avoid repeating mistakes through the freedom to educate.

I've drawn those conclusions as legal director since 1979 for the Government Accountability Project, a national whistleblower support organization. GAP is non-partisan. I'm speaking publicly as an individual about a political candidate, not an organizational leader. It is something I never have done before.

But Coleen Rowley is special. She remained an idealistic public servant in one of government's murkiest, most power-abusing bureaucracies - the FBI. She witnessed investigative agents in the Minneapolis Division pull their hair out as they attempted to investigate a terrorist suspect who was later found to have ties to the mastermind of the 9-11 terrorist conspiracy. But after 9-11, many officials were loath to air the dirty laundry, to engage in the painful process of admitting and unraveling the mistakes.

Ms. Rowley "committed the truth" and got away with it, almost a miracle in Washington, D.C. Her success sparked a stampede of disclosures by national security whistleblowers whose analogous warnings had been ignored by a bureaucracy in denial. Hers and their testimony became the foundation for the 9/11 Commission Report and nearly all meaningful congressional oversight of the last five years.

She wasn't only a pioneer introducing the truth to the history of 9/11. In January 2003 Time Magazine named her one of three Persons of the Year, along with two whistleblowers from Enron and MCI. There recognition was a milestone for whistleblowers generally. Until that point, conventional wisdom was that whistleblowers are nuts and/or traitors who never are satisfied. Increasingly now their messages are heard rather than covered up. Managers are beginning to realize that whistleblowers may well be prophets whose warnings are ignored at the bureaucrat's peril.

The Republicans should have drafted Ms. Rowley to run for Congress. She would be ideal for the party's advertising campaign. The number one issue is national security. And restoring our country's moral leadership and national security is going to have to start with the truth. Republicans desperately need to prove they are not the party of corruption, especially involving government contractors. Whistleblowers are the human factor that is the Achilles' heel of government corruption. The Department of Justice reports their lawsuits against fraud in government contracts have saved the taxpayers $15 billion since 1986, and $1.4 billion last year alone. Most basicly, Republicans portray themselves as the party of freedom. Whistleblowers like Coleen Rowley exercise freedom of speech when it means risking their professional lives.

Ms. Rowley already has changed the face and course of history by challenging the paradigm that our country is safer by enforcing secrecy at all costs, forcing blind trust that the government will take care of us. After she exposed what happened behind closed doors, national security secrecy will never be the same. She didn't blink pursuing those values in the world's most intimidating, secretive bureaucracy. If she pursues those same values in Congress, an American revolutionary idea might return: government for the people, instead of for itself.