III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 408 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Members of Congress and their 

staffs, employees of the Executive Office of the President and executive 

branch agencies, and the President of the United States have a duty 

to protect the identities of whistleblowers and safeguard whistleblowers 

from retaliation. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 6, 2019 

Ms. HIRONO (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. KING, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. MURRAY, 

Mr. BOOKER, Ms. HARRIS, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. MENENDEZ) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate that Members of Congress and their staffs, employees of the Executive Office 

of the President and executive branch agencies, and the 

President of the United States have a duty to protect 

the identities of whistleblowers and safeguard whistleblowers from retaliation. 

Whereas the United States has historically acknowledged a 

duty of individuals who serve the United States to report 

misconduct, fraud, and violations of law, as demonstrated 

by the first whistleblower legislation in the United States, 

which was passed unanimously by the Continental ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:59 Nov 06, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR408.IS SR408

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•SRES 408 IS 

gress on July 30, 1778, and read, ‘‘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’’ (legislation 

of July 30, 1778, reprinted in Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789, ed. Worthington C. Ford et 

al. (Washington, DC, 1904–37), 11:732); 

Whereas the duty to report misconduct, fraud, and violations 

of law remains, irrespective of the motives of a whistleblower, and, therefore, impugning the motives of whistleblowers has no relevance to the public interest in exposing and correcting improper or illegal conduct; 

Whereas, for each of the past 7 years, including most recently in Senate Resolution 194, 116th Congress, agreed 

to July 23, 2019, the Senate has recognized that ‘‘whistleblowers risk their careers, jobs, and reputations by reporting waste, fraud, and abuse to the proper authorities’’ and ‘‘serve the public interest by ensuring that the 

United States remains an ethical and safe place’’; 

Whereas a whistleblower lawfully filed a complaint on August 

12, 2019, with the Inspector General of the Intelligence 

Community, who determined that the complaint appeared 

‘‘credible’’ and involved a matter of ‘‘urgent concern’’ in 

accordance with section 17(d)(5) of the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 U.S.C. 3517(d)(5)) (commonly known as the ‘‘Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998’’); and 

Whereas 90 former national security officials who served in 

Democratic and Republican administrations wrote an 


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•SRES 408 IS 

open letter to the people of the United States stating, 

‘‘Whatever one’s view of the matters discussed in the 

whistleblower’s complaint, all Americans should be united 

in demanding that all branches of our government and all 

outlets of our media protect this whistleblower and his or 

her identity. Simply put, he or she has done what our law 

demands; now he or she deserves our protection.’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) appreciates employees and contractors, 

3 working on behalf of the taxpayers of the United 

4 States, who ‘‘blow the whistle’’ to the appropriate 

5 authorities by honest and good faith reporting of 

6 misconduct, fraud, misdemeanors, and other crimes; 

7 (2) acknowledges the contributions of whistle8 blowers to combat abuse, fraud, and violations of 

9 laws and regulations of the United States that have 

10 helped to safeguard the national security of the 

11 United States, democracy, and the rule of law in the 

12 United States; and 

13 (3) recognizes that the duty affirmed by Con14 gress since the founding of the United States to re15 port misconduct, fraud, and violations of law calls 

16 for a corresponding duty of Members of Congress 

17 and their staff, employees of the Executive Office of 

18 the President and executive branch agencies, and the 

19 President of the United States to— 


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•SRES 408 IS 

1 (A) protect the identities of whistleblowers 

2 who report abuse, fraud, and violations of laws 

3 and regulations of the United States; and 

4 (B) safeguard whistleblowers from retalia5 tion. 

Æ 


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