In a letter to congressional leaders, Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger urged both Houses of Congress to introduce and pass legislation permanently designating July 30th as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day (NWAD).
“The establishment of a permanent Whistleblower Appreciation Day reinforces the longstanding bipartisan consensus that whistleblowers serve an invaluable role in our government," Dellinger said. “By dedicating a day to these brave public servants, we not only honor the contributions of current whistleblowers, but we show potential whistleblowers that their sacrifices will not go unnoticed or unappreciated. And we make clear that retaliation against a whistleblower will not be tolerated."
For the past ten years, the U.S. Senate has unanimously recognized July 30th as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day, a bipartisan initiative led by Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus Co‐Chairs Charles Grassley and Ron Wyden. This day commemorates the passage of the very first whistleblower law by the United States Congress on July 30th, 1778.
Since that time, Congress has continued to make clear that government whistleblowers should feel empowered to disclose wrongdoing and be protected from retaliation when they do so. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is the agency charged with vindicating federal employee whistleblowers' rights.
Dellinger thanked Senators Grassley and Wyden and all Caucus members for their continued leadership on this issue. He further announced that OSC will begin requiring all agencies participating in our 5 U.S.C. 2302(c) Certification Program to promote NWAD as part of their annual re‐certification. This program helps agencies comply with their congressionally mandated responsibility to inform employees of their whistleblower rights and protections and to make that information available on agency websites.
Special Counsel Dellinger's letter can be found here.
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