Whistleblower Protections for Scientists Make Headway in Congress
Scientists must be able to speak out when their data indicates a public health, safety, or environmental hazard and they find their research manipulated, suppressed, or otherwise politicized by government officials. But, in UCS surveys, more than 1,400 federal government scientists reported fearing retaliation for raising these kinds of concerns. Preventing political interference in federal science will be difficult to achieve without the added transparency whistleblower protections for federal scientists would provide.
Letters and calls from UCS supporters helped us take a major step toward victory in 2008 when both houses of Congress passed whistleblower legislation with wide bipartisan majorities. Unfortunately, the legislation died when House and Senate negotiators failed to combine their respective versions of the legislation for final passage. President Barack Obama has expressed support for whistleblower protections for government employees who report abuses of science. With the help of our supporters, we will work with Congress in 2009 to pass strong whistleblower legislation and send it to the president's desk.
