II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4476 

To provide protections for employees of, former employees of, and applicants 

for employment with Federal agencies, contractors, and grantees whose 

right to petition or furnish information to Congress is interfered with 

or denied. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CARDIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, 

Mr. WARNER, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide protections for employees of, former employees 

of, and applicants for employment with Federal agencies, 

contractors, and grantees whose right to petition or furnish information to Congress is interfered with or denied. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Whistle5 blower Protection Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR COVERED INDIVIDUALS. 

2 Section 7211 of title 5, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘The right of employees’’ and 

5 inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The right of covered individ7 uals’’; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(b) REMEDIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered individual 

12 with respect to a Federal agency (other than a 

13 covered individual described in subparagraph 

14 (B), (C), or (D)) who is aggrieved by a violation 

15 of subsection (a) may seek corrective action 

16 under sections 1214 and 1221 in the same 

17 manner as an individual who is aggrieved by a 

18 prohibited personnel practice described in sec19 tion 2302(b)(8). 

20 ‘‘(B) FBI EMPLOYEES.—A covered indi21 vidual with respect to the Federal Bureau of 

22 Investigation who is aggrieved by a violation of 

23 subsection (a) may seek corrective action under 

24 section 2303. 

25 ‘‘(C) INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY EMPLOY26 EES.—A covered individual with respect to a 


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1 covered intelligence community element (as de2 fined in section 1104(a) of the National Secu3 rity Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234(a))) who is 

4 aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may 

5 seek corrective action under section 1104 of the 

6 National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 

7 3234) or subsection (b)(7) or (j) of section 

8 3001 of that Act (50 U.S.C. 3341). 

9 ‘‘(D) CONTRACTOR EMPLOYEES.—A cov10 ered individual with respect to a Federal agency 

11 who is an employee of, former employee of, or 

12 applicant for employment with, a contractor, 

13 subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or personal 

14 services contractor (as those terms are used in 

15 section 2409 of title 10 and section 4712 of 

16 title 41) of the agency and who is aggrieved by 

17 a violation of subsection (a) of this section may 

18 seek corrective action under section 2409 of 

19 title 10 or section 4712 of title 41. 

20 ‘‘(E) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The burdens of 

21 proof under subsection (e) of section 1221 shall 

22 apply to an allegation of a violation of sub23 section (a) of this section made under subpara24 graph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of this paragraph 

25 in the same manner as those burdens of proof 


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1 apply to an allegation of a prohibited personnel 

2 practice under such section 1221. 

3 ‘‘(F) CLASS OF INDIVIDUALS ENTITLED TO

4 SEEK CORRECTIVE ACTION.—The right to seek 

5 corrective action under subparagraph (A), (B), 

6 (C), or (D) shall apply to a covered individual 

7 who is an employee of, former employee of, or 

8 applicant for employment with, a Federal agen9 cy described in the applicable subparagraph or 

10 a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, subgrant11 ee, or personal services contractor (as those 

12 terms are used in section 2409 of title 10 and 

13 section 4712 of title 41) of such a Federal 

14 agency, notwithstanding the fact that a provi15 sion of law referenced in the applicable sub16 paragraph does not authorize one or more of 

17 those types of covered individuals to seek cor18 rective action. 

19 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a final decision pro21 viding relief for a violation of subsection (a) al22 leged under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) 

23 of paragraph (1) of this subsection is not issued 

24 within 210 days of the date on which the cov25 ered individual seeks corrective action under the 


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1 applicable subparagraph and there is no show2 ing that the delay is due to the bad faith of the 

3 covered individual, the covered individual may 

4 bring an action at law or equity for de novo re5 view in the appropriate district court of the 

6 United States, which shall have jurisdiction 

7 over the action without regard to the amount in 

8 controversy, for lost wages and benefits, rein9 statement, costs and attorney fees, compen10 satory damages, equitable or injunctive relief, 

11 or any other relief that the court considers ap12 propriate. 

13 ‘‘(B) JURY TRIAL.—An action brought 

14 under subparagraph (A) shall, upon the request 

15 of the covered individual, be tried by the court 

16 with a jury. 

17 ‘‘(C) BURDEN OF PROOF.—The burdens of 

18 proof under subsection (e) of section 1221 shall 

19 apply to an allegation of a violation of sub20 section (a) of this section in an action brought 

21 under this paragraph in the same manner as 

22 those burdens of proof apply to an allegation of 

23 a prohibited personnel practice under such sec24 tion 1221. 

25 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the term ‘covered individual’, with respect 

2 to a Federal agency, means an employee of, former 

3 employee of, or applicant for employment with— 

4 ‘‘(A) the agency; or 

5 ‘‘(B) a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, 

6 subgrantee, or personal services contractor (as 

7 those terms are used in section 2409 of title 10 

8 and section 4712 of title 41) of the agency; and 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘Federal agency’ means an agen10 cy, office, or other establishment in the executive, 

11 legislative, or judicial branch of the Federal Govern12 ment.’’. 

Æ 


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