Duty to expose wastrels, fraudsters, abusers

Whistle blowing legitimated, legislated, elevated 1778-2014

Editing by Carolyn Bennett 

…Resolved, That it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States, as well as all other the inhabitants thereof, to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors committed by any officers or persons in the service of these states, which may come to their knowledge [Continental Congress in the eighteenth century.]  

Let there be no mistake, I was downgraded in performance and removed because I did my job too well…My removal serves to clarify that the power structure will no longer tolerate efforts to curb contract abuse. 

Regardless, I still believe that Integrity in Government is not an option, but an obligation -- Bunnatine ‘Bunny’ Greenhouse, Army Corps of Engineers Chief Procurement Officer [U.S. Federal government twentieth-twenty-first centuries] 

A

pproaching “National Whistleblower Appreciation Day” declared by the U.S. Senate last year as the 30th day of July, the National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) -- a non-profit, non-partisan group “dedicated to protecting employees’ lawful disclosure of waste, fraud, and abuse --remembers an earlier mandate enacted by the Continental Congress on July 30, 1778.

“In honor of ‘National Whistleblower Appreciation Day,’” Jane Wilmoth writes, “we call upon the President of the United States and all public institutions in the United States… to widely publish the words enacted” in 1778 and …

 …to publicly celebrate the courage and sacrifices whistleblowers have made to American democracy.

Attorney Mary Jane Wilmoth is Program Director and Co-treasurer with the National Whistleblowers Center. Her work extends to the 1990s when she began at the center as its first Public Interest Law Fellow. Wilmoth has been an instrumental figure in defending whistleblower rights in complex matters before major federal agencies such as Environmental Protection and Labor.

The National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) sponsors advocacy, education, and assistance projects in a variety of program areas. Its public services include an online resource center on whistleblower rights, a speaker’s bureau of national experts and former whistleblowers, and a national attorney referral service operated by the NWC’s sister group, the National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund (NWLDEF).

American Whistleblower Tour

Rutgers University-Newark 2012

"Tale of Two Female Whistleblowers":

Susan Wood

Cathy Harris, U.S. Customs

Susan Wood, FDA

“In 2005, after five years at her position at the FDA as Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health, Dr. Susan Wood realized that politics was playing a heavy role in what should have been a public health decision. Once it became clear to her that the controversial Plan-B pill (a ‘morning after’ contraceptive) was being wrongly delayed for approval due to political reasons, she resigned her position on the principle that the FDA should exclusively exist to serve public health."  

Dr. Wood then went on a U.S. speaking tour, telling her story and voicing her concerns about the state of U.S. public health policy.

Cathy Harris

Former Senior Inspector for the U.S. Customs Service (USCS) at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (the busiest in the world) Cathy Harris disclosed to the media the USCS practice of discriminatory racial profiling. She verified her suspicions that women of African descent were wrongfully targeted for detention and strip searches as possible drug couriers. 

Harris’s “revelations resulted in a damning GAO study of USCS profiling practices” followed by “federal legislation to reform these unconstitutional practices.”

Americans Who Tell the Truth has highlighted

Whistleblower Bunnatine ‘Bunny’ Greenhouse

In 1998,  Bunnatine ‘Bunny’ Greenhouse obtained a promotion to the Senior Executive Service of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, the Corps' top level civilian rank. 

In the lead-up to the Iraq war in 2001, a bid from the Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) came across Greenhouse’s desk. The contract was being pushed as an “emergency” no-bid, no-competition contract that would last two to five years. Bunny noted that there was no compelling emergency that could reasonably last for five years, and that extending a contract for more than one year was intended to block competition. She sent the bid back with a series of notes, while stating that the contract be approved for no more than one year of ‘emergency’ status.

Behind her back, the Corps gave KBR a waiver, essentially going around Greenhouse to award the contract. Greenhouse complained about the inappropriate contract within the Corps, and then took it to Congress. She insisted that only a level playing field would enable small businesses, as well as large contractors, to bid competitively for contracts. When the Corps found out Greenhouse intended to speak to the Senate Democratic Policy Committee about the allegations in 2005, she was informed that it would not be ‘in her best interests.’ 

Bunnatine ‘Bunny’ Greenhouse

“Greenshouse stated that she was simply doing her job by refusing to bend the rules for well-connected companies, which is why she refused to ratify what she deemed an ‘irregular procurement.’ (A later investigation and audit by the Pentagon would find that KBR had possibly billed the government for more than $60 billion in excess fuel charges in Iraq.)…

  

“After the allegations of fraud went public, other pieces of the story began to come to light. Greenhouse had encountered other forms of hostility in her career.…In July 2011, the Washington U.S. District Court awarded Greenhouse $970,000 in lost wages and damages. In statements before Congress and to the press, Greenhouse presented a consistent and clear message about her actions as a government whistleblower.”

Refusing to accept accolades, she “reminded the public that she was simply doing her job. Bunnatine ‘Bunny’ Greenhouse “describes her actions as patriotic” and calls for a federal whistleblower protection act so that civilians are freed to “uphold the public trust.”

Sources and notes

Library of Congress Journals of The Continental Congress 1774-1789; Edited from Original Records in the Library of Congress by Worthington Chauncey Ford, Chief in the Division of Manuscripts, Volume Xl, 1778, Report in the Papers of The Continental Congress, No. 136, II, folio 427.

American Whistleblower Tour, http://myemail.constantcontact.com/American-Whistleblower-Tour.html?soid=1104247795966&aid=GTTIRe68IKQ

Americans who tell the truth, http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/bunny-greenhouse

“Special Offer In Honor of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day” by Mary Jane Wilmoth, July 23, 2014, http://www.whistleblowersblog.org/2014/07/articles/news/events/special-offer-in-honor-of-national-whistleblower-appreciation-day/

National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) and National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund (NWLDEF) links:

http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=75

http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=42

http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1199&Itemid=124

The Whistleblower's Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Doing What’s Right & Protecting Yourself - 3ED, http://nwc-store.auctivacommerce.com/The-Whistleblowers-Handbook-A-Step-by-Step-Guide-to-Doing-Whats-Right-Protecting-Yourself-3ED-P1807746.aspx

http://nwc-store.auctivacommerce.com/Default.aspx

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