II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 585 

To provide greater whistleblower protections for Federal employees, increased 

awareness of Federal whistleblower protections, and increased accountability and required discipline for Federal supervisors who retaliate 

against whistleblowers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 8, 2017 

Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Mrs. ERNST) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide greater whistleblower protections for Federal employees, increased awareness of Federal whistleblower 

protections, and increased accountability and required 

discipline for Federal supervisors who retaliate against 

whistleblowers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistleblower Protection Act of 

6 2017’’. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
2 

•S 585 IS

1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—EMPLOYEES GENERALLY 

Sec. 101. Definitions. 

Sec. 102. Stays; probationary employees. 

Sec. 103. Prohibited personnel practices. 

Sec. 104. Discipline of supervisors based on retaliation against whistleblowers. 

Sec. 105. Suicide by employees. 

Sec. 106. Training for supervisors. 

Sec. 107. Information on whistleblower protections. 

TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES 

Sec. 201. Prevention of unauthorized access to medical records of employees of 

the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Sec. 202. Outreach on availability of mental health services available to employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Sec. 203. Protocols to address threats against employees of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

Sec. 204. Comptroller General of the United States study on accountability of 

chiefs of police of Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. 

3 TITLE I—EMPLOYEES 

4 GENERALLY 

5 SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 

6 In this title— 

7 (1) the term ‘‘agency’’— 

8 (A) except as provided in subparagraph 

9 (B), means an entity that is an agency, as de10 fined under section 2302 of title 5, United 

11 States Code, without regard to whether one or 

12 more portions of title 5 of the United States 

13 Code are inapplicable to the entity; and 

14 (B) does not include any entity that is an 

15 element of the intelligence community, as deVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Mar 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S585.IS S585

lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
3 

•S 585 IS

1 fined in section 3(4) of the National Security 

2 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)); 

3 (2) the term ‘‘employee’’ means an employee 

4 (as defined in section 2105 of title 5, United States 

5 Code) of an agency; and 

6 (3) the term ‘‘personnel action’’ has the mean7 ing given that term under section 2302 of title 5, 

8 United States Code. 

9 SEC. 102. STAYS; PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES. 

10 (a) REQUEST BY SPECIAL COUNSEL.—Section 

11 1214(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(E) If the Merit Systems Protection Board grants 

14 a stay under this subsection, the head of the agency em15 ploying the employee shall give priority to a request for 

16 a transfer submitted by the employee.’’. 

17 (b) PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES.—Section 1221 of 

18 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

19 end the following: 

20 ‘‘(k) If the Merit Systems Protection Board grants 

21 a stay to an employee in probationary status under sub22 section (c), the head of the agency employing the employee 

23 shall give priority to a request for a transfer submitted 

24 by the employee.’’. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
4 

•S 585 IS

1 (c) STUDY REGARDING RETALIATION AGAINST PRO2 BATIONARY EMPLOYEES.—The Comptroller General of 

3 the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

4 Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen5 ate and the Committee on Oversight and Government Re6 form of the House of Representatives a report discussing 

7 retaliation against employees in probationary status. 

8 SEC. 103. PROHIBITED PERSONNEL PRACTICES. 

9 Section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

10 amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) in paragraph (13), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (3) by inserting after paragraph (13) the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(14) access the medical record of another em18 ployee or an applicant for employment as a part of, 

19 or otherwise in furtherance of, any conduct de20 scribed in paragraphs (1) through (13).’’. 

21 SEC. 104. DISCIPLINE OF SUPERVISORS BASED ON RETAL22 IATION AGAINST WHISTLEBLOWERS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 75 of 

24 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

25 end the following: 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
5 

•S 585 IS

1 ‘‘§ 7515. Discipline of supervisors based on retaliation 

2 against whistleblowers 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’— 

5 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

6 (B), means an entity that is an agency, as de7 fined under section 2302, without regard to 

8 whether any other provision of this chapter is 

9 applicable to the entity; and 

10 ‘‘(B) does not include any entity that is an 

11 element of the intelligence community, as de12 fined in section 3(4) of the National Security 

13 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)); 

14 ‘‘(2) the term ‘prohibited personnel action’ 

15 means taking or failing to take an action in violation 

16 of paragraph (8), (9), or (14) of section 2302(b) 

17 against an employee of an agency; and 

18 ‘‘(3) the term ‘supervisor’ means an employee 

19 who would be a supervisor, as defined under section 

20 7103(a), if the entity employing the employee was 

21 an agency. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROPOSED DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If the head of the agency 

24 employing a supervisor, an administrative law judge, 

25 the Merit Systems Protection Board, the Special 

26 Counsel, a judge of the United States, or the InspecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:10 Mar 16, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S585.IS S585

lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
6 

•S 585 IS

1 tor General of the agency employing a supervisor de2 termines that the supervisor has committed a pro3 hibited personnel action, the head of the agency em4 ploying the supervisor, in accordance with the proce5 dures required under paragraph (2)— 

6 ‘‘(A) for the first prohibited personnel ac7 tion committed by a supervisor— 

8 ‘‘(i) shall propose suspending the su9 pervisor for a period of not less than 3 

10 days; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) may, in addition to a suspension 

12 described in clause (i), propose any other 

13 action, including a reduction in grade or 

14 pay, that the head of the agency deter15 mines appropriate; and 

16 ‘‘(B) for the second prohibited personnel 

17 action committed by a supervisor, shall propose 

18 removing the supervisor. 

19 ‘‘(2) PROCEDURES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) NOTICE.—A supervisor against whom 

21 an action is proposed to be taken under para22 graph (1) is entitled to written notice— 

23 ‘‘(i) stating the specific reasons for 

24 the proposed action; and 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
7 

•S 585 IS

1 ‘‘(ii) informing the supervisor of the 

2 right of the supervisor to review the mate3 rial which is relied on to support the rea4 sons for the proposed action. 

5 ‘‘(B) ANSWER AND EVIDENCE.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A supervisor who 

7 is notified under subparagraph (A) that 

8 the supervisor is the subject of a proposed 

9 action under paragraph (1) is entitled to 

10 14 days following such notification to an11 swer and furnish evidence in support of the 

12 answer. 

13 ‘‘(ii) NO EVIDENCE FURNISHED; IN14 SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE.—After the end of 

15 the 14-day period described in clause (i), if 

16 a supervisor does not furnish evidence as 

17 described in clause (i) or if the head of the 

18 agency determines that such evidence is 

19 not sufficient to reverse the proposed ac20 tion, the head of the agency shall carry out 

21 the action. 

22 ‘‘(C) SCOPE OF PROCEDURES.—An action 

23 carried out under this section— 

24 ‘‘(i) except as provided in clause (ii), 

25 shall be subject to the same requirements 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
8 

•S 585 IS

1 and procedures (including regarding ap2 peals) as an action under section 7503, 

3 7513, or 7543; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) shall not be subject to— 

5 ‘‘(I) paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

6 section 7503(b); 

7 ‘‘(II) paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

8 subsection (b) and subsection (c) of 

9 section 7513; or 

10 ‘‘(III) paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

11 subsection (b) and subsection (c) of 

12 section 7543. 

13 ‘‘(3) DELEGATION.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

15 paragraph (B), the head of an agency may dele16 gate any authority or responsibility under this 

17 subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) NONDELEGABILITY OF DETERMINA19 TION REGARDING PROHIBITED PERSONNEL AC20 TION.—If the head of an agency is responsible 

21 for determining whether a supervisor has com22 mitted a prohibited personnel action for pur23 poses of paragraph (1), the head of the agency 

24 may not delegate that responsibility.’’. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
9 

•S 585 IS

1 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

2 The table of sections for subchapter II of chapter 75 of 

3 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

4 end the following: 

‘‘7515. Discipline of supervisors based on retaliation against whistleblowers.’’. 

5 SEC. 105. SUICIDE BY EMPLOYEES. 

6 (a) REFERRAL.—The head of an agency shall refer 

7 to the Special Counsel, along with any information known 

8 to the agency regarding the circumstances described in 

9 paragraphs (2) and (3), any instance in which the head 

10 of the agency has information indicating— 

11 (1) an employee of the agency committed sui12 cide; 

13 (2) prior to the death of the employee, the em14 ployee made any disclosure of information which rea15 sonably evidences— 

16 (A) any violation of any law, rule, or regu17 lation; or 

18 (B) gross mismanagement, a gross waste 

19 of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial 

20 and specific danger to public health or safety; 

21 and 

22 (3) after a disclosure described in paragraph 

23 (2), a personnel action was taken against the em24 ployee. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
10 

•S 585 IS

1 (b) OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL REVIEW.—For 

2 any referral to the Special Counsel under subsection (a), 

3 the Special Counsel shall— 

4 (1) examine whether any personnel action was 

5 taken because of any disclosure of information de6 scribed in subsection (a)(2); and 

7 (2) take any action the Special Counsel deter8 mines appropriate under subchapter II of chapter 12 

9 of title 5, United States Code. 

10 SEC. 106. TRAINING FOR SUPERVISORS. 

11 In consultation with the Special Counsel and the In12 spector General of the agency (or senior ethics official of 

13 the agency for an agency without an Inspector General), 

14 the head of each agency shall provide training regarding 

15 how to respond to complaints alleging a violation of whis16 tleblower protections (as defined in section 2307 of title 

17 5, United States Code, as added by section 107) available 

18 to employees of the agency— 

19 (1) to employees appointed to supervisory posi20 tions in the agency who have not previously served 

21 as a supervisor; and 

22 (2) on an annual basis, to all employees of the 

23 agency serving in a supervisory position. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
11 

•S 585 IS

1 SEC. 107. INFORMATION ON WHISTLEBLOWER PROTEC2 TIONS. 

3 (a) EXISTING PROVISION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2302 of title 5, 

5 United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) by striking subsection (c); and 

7 (B) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), 

8 and (f) as subsections (c), (d), and (e), respec9 tively. 

10 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND11 MENTS.— 

12 (A) Section 4505a(b)(2) of title 5, United 

13 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

14 2302(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2302(c)’’. 

15 (B) Section 5755(b)(2) of title 5, United 

16 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘section 

17 2302(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2302(c)’’. 

18 (C) Section 110(b)(2) of the Whistleblower 

19 Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (5 U.S.C. 

20 2302 note) is amended by striking ‘‘section 

21 2303(f)(1) or (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

22 2303(e)(1) or (2)’’. 

23 (D) Section 704 of the Homeland Security 

24 Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 344) is amended by 

25 striking ‘‘2302(c)’’ each place it appears and 

26 inserting ‘‘2307’’. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
12 

•S 585 IS

1 (E) Section 1217(d)(3) of the Panama 

2 Canal Act of 1979 (22 U.S.C. 3657(d)(3)) is 

3 amended by striking ‘‘section 2302(d)’’ and in4 serting ‘‘section 2302(c)’’. 

5 (F) Section 1233(b) of the Panama Canal 

6 Act of 1979 (22 U.S.C. 3673(b)) is amended by 

7 striking ‘‘section 2302(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sec8 tion 2302(c)’’. 

9 (b) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Chapter 23 of 

10 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

11 end the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 2307. Information on whistleblower protections 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘agency’— 

15 ‘‘(A) except as provided in subparagraph 

16 (B), has the meaning given that term in section 

17 2302; and 

18 ‘‘(B) does not include any entity that is an 

19 element of the intelligence community, as de20 fined in section 3(4) of the National Security 

21 Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3003(4)); 

22 ‘‘(2) the term ‘new employee’ means an indi23 vidual— 

24 ‘‘(A) appointed to a position as an em25 ployee of an agency on or after the date of enVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:34 Mar 15, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S585.IS S585

lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
13 

•S 585 IS

1 actment of the Dr. Chris Kirkpatrick Whistle2 blower Protection Act of 2017; and 

3 ‘‘(B) who has not previously served as an 

4 employee; and 

5 ‘‘(3) the term ‘whistleblower protections’ means 

6 the protections against and remedies for a prohibited 

7 personnel practice described in paragraph (8), sub8 paragraph (A)(i), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (9), 

9 or paragraph (14) of section 2302(b). 

10 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF HEAD OF AGENCY.—The 

11 head of each agency shall be responsible for the prevention 

12 of prohibited personnel practices, for the compliance with 

13 and enforcement of applicable civil service laws, rules, and 

14 regulations, and other aspects of personnel management, 

15 and for ensuring (in consultation with the Special Counsel 

16 and the Inspector General of the agency) that employees 

17 of the agency are informed of the rights and remedies 

18 available to them under this chapter and chapter 12, in19 cluding— 

20 ‘‘(1) information regarding whistleblower pro21 tections available to new employees during the pro22 bationary period; 

23 ‘‘(2) the role of the Office of Special Counsel 

24 and the Merit Systems Protection Board with regard 

25 to whistleblower protections; and 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
14 

•S 585 IS

1 ‘‘(3) how to make a lawful disclosure of infor2 mation that is specifically required by law or Execu3 tive order to be kept classified in the interest of na4 tional defense or the conduct of foreign affairs to the 

5 Special Counsel, the Inspector General of an agency, 

6 Congress, or other agency employee designated to 

7 receive such disclosures. 

8 ‘‘(c) TIMING.—The head of each agency shall ensure 

9 that the information required to be provided under sub10 section (b) is provided to each new employee of the agency 

11 not later than 6 months after the date the new employee 

12 begins performing service as an employee. 

13 ‘‘(d) INFORMATION ONLINE.—The head of each 

14 agency shall make available information regarding whistle15 blower protections applicable to employees of the agency 

16 on the public website of the agency, and on any online 

17 portal that is made available only to employees of the 

18 agency if one exists. 

19 ‘‘(e) DELEGEES.—Any employee to whom the head 

20 of an agency delegates authority for personnel manage21 ment, or for any aspect thereof, shall, within the limits 

22 of the scope of the delegation, be responsible for the activi23 ties described in subsection (b).’’. 

24 (c) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

25 The table of sections for chapter 23 of title 5, United 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
15 

•S 585 IS

1 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

‘‘2307. Information on whistleblower protections.’’. 

3 TITLE II—DEPARTMENT OF 

4 VETERANS AFFAIRS EMPLOYEES 

5 SEC. 201. PREVENTION OF UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO 

6 MEDICAL RECORDS OF EMPLOYEES OF THE 

7 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

8 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec11 retary of Veterans Affairs shall— 

12 (A) develop a plan to prevent access to the 

13 medical records of employees of the Department 

14 of Veterans Affairs by employees of the Depart15 ment who are not authorized to access such 

16 records; 

17 (B) submit to the appropriate committees 

18 of Congress the plan developed under subpara19 graph (A); and 

20 (C) upon request, provide a briefing to the 

21 appropriate committees of Congress with re22 spect to the plan developed under subparagraph 

23 (A). 

24 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required under 

25 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
16 

•S 585 IS

1 (A) A detailed assessment of strategic 

2 goals of the Department for the prevention of 

3 unauthorized access to the medical records of 

4 employees of the Department. 

5 (B) A list of circumstances in which an 

6 employee of the Department who is not a health 

7 care provider or an assistant to a health care 

8 provider would be authorized to access the med9 ical records of another employee of the Depart10 ment. 

11 (C) Steps that the Secretary will take to 

12 acquire new or implement existing technology to 

13 prevent an employee of the Department from 

14 accessing the medical records of another em15 ployee of the Department without a specific 

16 need to access such records. 

17 (D) Steps the Secretary will take, includ18 ing plans to issue new regulations, as necessary, 

19 to ensure that an employee of the Department 

20 may not access the medical records of another 

21 employee of the Department for the purpose of 

22 retrieving demographic information if that de23 mographic information is available to the em24 ployee in another location or through another 

25 format. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
17 

•S 585 IS

1 (E) A proposed timetable for the imple2 mentation of such plan. 

3 (F) An estimate of the costs associated 

4 with implementing such plan. 

5 (b) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit7 tees of Congress’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

9 Governmental Affairs and the Committee on Vet10 erans’ Affairs of the Senate; and 

11 (2) the Committee on Oversight and Govern12 ment Reform and the Committee on Veterans’ Af13 fairs of the House of Representatives. 

14 SEC. 202. OUTREACH ON AVAILABILITY OF MENTAL 

15 HEALTH SERVICES AVAILABLE TO EMPLOY16 EES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF17 FAIRS. 

18 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a 

19 program of outreach to employees of the Department of 

20 Veterans Affairs to inform those employees of any mental 

21 health services, including telemedicine options, that are 

22 available to them. 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills
18 

•S 585 IS

1 SEC. 203. PROTOCOLS TO ADDRESS THREATS AGAINST EM2 PLOYEES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET3 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

4 The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure proto5 cols are in effect to address threats from individuals re6 ceiving health care from the Department of Veterans Af7 fairs directed towards employees of the Department who 

8 are providing such health care. 

9 SEC. 204. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED 

10 STATES STUDY ON ACCOUNTABILITY OF 

11 CHIEFS OF POLICE OF DEPARTMENT OF VET12 ERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL CENTERS. 

13 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

14 conduct a study to assess the reporting, staffing, account15 ability, and chain of command structure of the Depart16 ment of Veterans Affairs police officers at medical centers 

17 of the Department. 

Æ 


lotter on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with Bills