The 118th Congress will end on January 3, 2025. Thus, there is one year remaining for Congress and the current-sitting executive officers to act on a number of pending whistleblower initiatives, all of which have strong bipartisan support, are based on the plain meaning of laws already passed by Congress, and which are individually or collectively essential for the implementation of the U.S. Anti-Corruption Strategy. Outside of political interference by those who stand to lose when whistleblowers are incentivized and protected, there is no legitimate reason why these reforms cannot be quickly approved. The actions listed below are needed for the Strategy to be implemented, but whose approval has been stalled or blocked by resistant executive agencies or a timid Congress.
Support the Campaign with Seven Easy Actions:
Action #1 of 2024 Call on FinCEN to Enact AML Regulations
In 2022, Congress passed the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Whistleblower Improvement Act in December 2022. The law establishes a whistleblower award program for individuals who report money laundering and sanctions violations and is the most important anti-corruption law passed in decades.
Action #2 of 2024 DOJ must accept Confidential/Anonymous Disclosures
The Department of Justice still hasn’t implemented procedures for dealing with anonymous and confidential whistleblowers who report violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, despite being legally required to do so since 2021.
Action #3 of 2024 Strengthen the SEC Whistleblower Program
Urge Congress to strengthen the SEC Whistleblower Program and protect internal corporate whistleblowers by (1) passing the bipartisan SEC Whistleblower Reform Act of 2023 and (2) Calling on the SEC to broaden its definition of a voluntary whistleblower.
Action #4 of 2024 Support the IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fails to compensate whistleblowers in a timely manner. These delays, which the IRS admits are average over 10-years, cause untold hardship to whistleblowers, many of whom have lost their jobs and careers, and their only hope for economic survival is the compensation promised under law.
Action #5 of 2024: Fix FCA loopholes
Thanks for all your support so far! We’ve completed over half of our actions to kick off 2024, and we only have three more to go! Today’s action is very important. The qui tam provision of the False Claims Act is under attack, even though reports by whistleblowers are responsible for over 70% of recovered assets under the FCA. (amounting to over $50 billion)
Action #6 of 2024 Strengthen the CFTC Whistleblower Program
The CFTC Whistleblower Program is in danger of being a victim of its own success. When the CFTC whistleblower rewards program was introduced, a fund was created to pay whistleblowers using the sanctions collected from whistleblower tips. However, this fund was capped at $100 million. Since the introduction of the program just over a decade ago, so many whistleblowers have come forward that this fund is almost out.
Action #7 of 2024 Make National Whistleblower Day a Federal Day of Observance
On behalf of the NWC, today is our last of seven days of action to start the new year, and today’s action is big. As many of you know, each year, the National Whistleblower Center holds a celebration for National Whistleblower Day. However, even though Congress recognizes the day each year, neither Congress nor the White House have taken action to permanently recognize July 30 as National Whistleblower Day.
Click the links to learn more and take action. Thank you for your continued support.
Recognized by the National Whistleblower Center (NWC), Tracie Burke is Louisiana author of motiontoquash.org. She can be reached at tracie@motiontoquash.org. Motion to Quash LLC successfully promoted legislation that supports the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 and amendments to the Whistleblower Protection Act. Please Support journalism in the public interest by contributing today. Click here to donate Motion to Quash ISSN 2644-1594 is the copyrighted property of Motion to Quash LLC 2019. NWC’s mission is to support whistleblowers in their efforts to expose and help prosecute corruption and other wrongdoing around the world.
