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July 16, 2008 Dear Conferees, Last October, 42 citizen, consumer and good government organizations signed a letter urging the Senate to support whistleblower protection in S. 2045, the CPSC Reform Act of 2007. Despite intense industry opposition, the Senate respected this mandate. With bi-partisan agreement the Senate adopted a strong whistleblower provision for enforcement of the law’s stronger consumer protection standards. There no longer are any credible objections to the Senate provision. To illustrate, last fall industry lobbyists insisted that protection was unnecessary, because there were no reported cases of retaliation. Reform proponents pointed out the obvious: that was largely unavoidable due to the absence of legal rights. Nonetheless, proponents presented a menu of cases from whistleblowers who filed suit even without rights. Among others, the examples included a quality control manager fired for challenging inferior materials in an infant stationery play center; a product designer fired for challenging light fixtures that flunked federal safety standards but were marketed without prior testing; a product engineer fired after challenging continued sales without corrective action of faulty home furnace ignition devices that already had caused a fire; and a wire company employee fired for reporting shipment of faulty wiring in smoke alarms. Similarly, industry lobbyists asserted a deluge of litigation would ensue, but the allegation had no credibility. It has been made for virtually every whistleblower shield enacted by Congress, and never has materialized to date in 36 preexisting whistleblower laws After the attacks could not stand scrutiny, special interest opponents largely stopped making them, in public. We understand, however, that the pace of lobbying has intensified behind closed doors. It would be most unfortunate if this tactic worked. For one reason, the voters do not support it. A Democracy Corps survey of likely voters after the last election found whistleblower rights their second highest priority, chosen by 79%, only second to the related goal picked by 81% of ending illegal government spending. That is understandable. Voters recognize that whistleblowers are the public’s eyes and ears. As illustrated above, whistleblowers have confirmed repeated instances of companies refusing to disclose the full extent of adverse internal tests results to the government, or to institute recalls despite test results that confirmed a high likelihood of fatal injuries. Last week an anonymous whistleblower contacted the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Government Accountability Project to urge that the final CPSC legislation contain whistleblower protection. The employee’s experience is a microcosm of why that provision is, in the whistleblower’s words, “indispensable” for companies to take the new standards seriously for any products self-regulated through internal testing. Otherwise, the conflicts of interest are too severe and the certain costs too great to delay production at the stage when testing normally occurs.” That scenario is the rule, rather than the exception, for the 15,000 products covered by H.R. 4040/S 2045. GAP reports that the employee’s concerns are being distributed to conferee staff whose offices pledge to respect confidentiality even for a highly sanitized memorandum of concerns – the only conditions the employee would accept without rights. The lesson to be learned is unavoidable. Even with greater resources, the CPSC cannot always enforce stronger safety standards unless employees have the legally-protected right to help enforce the law. In 2005 the House respected that principle by enacting “best practice” whistleblower rights in the Energy Policy Act. Last August, Congress proved it was serious about homeland security by passing best practice whistleblower rights for ground transportation employees. In January, Congress followed suit for defense contractors, despite the shrill objections from such powerful firms as Halliburton and Bechtel. It would be unfortunate if Congress did not stand up to industry lobbyists on this bill who no longer can make their objections in public. America routinely depends on retail products that if defective could threaten our families many times every day. We urge you to protect those who are indispensable to enforce this law. It is unrealistic to expect that whistleblowers will defend the public if they can’t defend themselves. Gil Mileikowsky, M.D. Alliance for Patient Safety 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 Nancy Talanian, Director Bill of Rights Defense Committee Charlie Cray, Director Center for Corporate Policy Merrill Goozner Director, Integrity in Science Center for Science in the Public Interest Linda Lazarus, Director Center to Advance Human Potential Evelyn M. Hurwich, President and Chair Circumpolar Conservation Union John Judge Coalition on Political Assassinations 9/11 Research Project Matthew Fogg, President Congress Against Racism & Corruption in Law Enforcement (CARCLE) Ellen Bloom, Director of Federal Policy Ami Gadhia, Policy Counsel Consumers Union Sue Udry, Director Defending Dissent Foundation Ben Smilowitz, Director Disaster Accountability Project Dr. Jim Murtagh Doctors for Open Government Gregory Hile EnviroJustice John Richard Essential Information George Anderson Ethics in Government Group (EGG) Steven Aftergood, Project Director Federation of American Scientists Marilyn Fitterman, Vice President Feminists For Free Expression Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director Food and Water Watch Conrad Martin, Executive Director Fund for Constitutional Government Gwen Marshall, co-Chairman Georgians for Open Government Tom Devine, Legal Director Government Accountability Project James C. Turner, Executive Director HALT, Inc. -- An Organization of Americans for Legal Reform Tom Carpenter, Executive Director Hanford Challenge Helen Salisbury, M.D. Health Integrity Project Rich Carlson , Legal Counsel Idaho Rural Council Michael McCray, Esq., Co-Chair International Association of Whistleblowers Donald Soeken, President Integrity International Mory Atashkar, Vice President Iranian American Democratic Association Mark S. Zaid James Madison Project Nancy Cowles, Executive Director Kids in Danger Michael D. Ostrolenk, National Director Liberty Coalition James Landrith, Founder The Multiracial Activist Joan E. Bertin, Esq., Executive Director National Coalition Against Censorship Sally Greenberg, Executive Director National Consumers League Terisa E. Chaw, Executive Director National Employment Lawyers Association Paul Brown, Government Relations Manager National Research Center for Women & Families Steve Kohn, President National Whistleblower Center Amy Allina National Women's Health Network Ron Marshall, Chairman The New Grady Coalition Rick Engler, Director New Jersey Work Environment Council Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Chair No FEAR Coalition Sean Moulton, Director, Federal Information Policy OMB Watch Patrice McDermott, Executive Director OpenTheGovernment.org Joe Carson, PE, Chair OSC Watch Steering Committee Judy Norsigian, Executive Director Our Bodies Ourselves Betsy Combier, President and Editor Parentadvocates.org Former Special Agent Darlene Fitzgerald Patrick Henry Center Ronald J Riley, President Professional Inventor's Alliance Danielle Brian, Executive Director Project On Government Oversight David Arkush, Director, Congress Watch Public Citizen Jeff Ruch, Executive Director Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility John W. Whitehead, president The Rutherford Institute Dr. Roland Chalifoux The Semmelweis Society International (SSI) Clint Brewer, President Society of Professional Journalists 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 Ken Paff, National Organizer Teamsters for a Democratic Union Paul Taylor Truckers Justice Center Francesca Grifo, Ph.D., Director Scientific Integrity Program Union of Concerned Scientists Michael J. Wilson, International Vice President and Director, Legislative and Political Action Department United Food & Commercial Workers International Union Dane von Breichenruchardt, President U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation Mabel Dobbs, Chair Livestock Committee Western Organization of Resource Councils Janet Chandler, Co-Founder Whistleblower Mentoring Project Linda Lewis, Director Whistleblowers USA Kim Witczak WoodyMatters  Be first to comment this article |  Add as favourites (37) |  Quote this article on your site | Views: 649
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