For more than a decade, the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus has led an effort to designate July 30 as “National Whistleblower Appreciation Day,” celebrating whistleblowers’ contributions and risking their livelihoods and reputations to combat legal and regulatory violations, waste, fraud and abuse in the United States.

The July 30 designation is no accident. The American tradition of supporting whistleblowers dates back to July 30, 1778. Just two years after the United States was founded, and before it had even won its independence from Great Britain, the Second Continental Congress on that date passed a unanimous resolution calling upon all public servants — and all Americans — to report public officials’ “misconduct, frauds or misdemeanors.”

A resolution to recognize July 30 in honor of whistleblowers, introduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), co-founders and co-chairs of the caucus, has been passed unanimously by the Senate every year since 2013. It encourages each executive agency to recognize National Whistleblower Appreciation Day by:

• Informing employees, contractors working on behalf of the taxpayers of the United States, and members of the public about the legal right of a United States citizen to ‘‘blow the whistle’’ to the appropriate authority by honest and good faith reporting of misconduct, fraud, misdemeanors, or other crimes.
• Acknowledging the contributions of whistleblowers to combating waste, fraud, abuse, and violations of laws and regulations of the United States. 

In addition, Grassley has asked every president since Ronald Reagan to honor whistleblowers by hosting a Rose Garden ceremony on Whistleblower Appreciation Day. That celebration has yet to occur, but whistleblowers are deserving of such an honor for many reasons.

“The cornerstone of the United States’ government is accountability to the people it serves. Whistleblowers put their jobs and reputations on the line to uphold that bedrock principle. Our laws should empower their oversight and ensure they can come forward without fear of retribution,” Grassley said last year. “Protecting whistleblowers is good government, plain and simple, and that’s something we can all get behind.” 

“Whistleblowers are brave individuals who sound the alarm on fraud, waste, and abuse of public resources,” Wyden said last year. “It’s time for Congress to step up and support whistleblowers by strengthening laws that allow them to raise issues without fear of retaliation. Whistleblowers are the fail-safe for our government and I’ll fight tooth and nail to shore up protections that bolster our democratic institutions.”

At Keller Grover, we extend our support for National Whistleblower Appreciation Day and efforts to strengthen whistleblower law because whistleblowers make a sacrifice to speak up about wasteful spending and wrongdoing. Whistleblowers are often the only people able or willing to share information that can stop or expose a fraud, which is a view held not only by advocates like us but the federal government as well. For example: more than $2.3 billion of the $2.68 billion in False Claims Act recoveries last fiscal year came from whistleblower-initiated cases, nearly 86 percent.

Keller Grover provides confidential, free consultations to advise potential whistleblowers. If you suspect wrongdoing and have questions about your next steps, contact us today.