Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2007

Floor Speech

WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION ENHANCEMENT ACT OF 2007

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WESTMORELAND. Mr. Speaker, I offer this motion to recommit with instructions.

One of the most confusing areas of public life for most Americans involves to what extent a person may express their personal religious views. Everyone believes they have complete religious freedom and yet the media often reports instances where courts or administrators say people may not express their religious faith. The unfortunate result of this confusion is that people tend to self-censor their behavior.

In 1997, the Clinton administration sent out guidelines to all Federal agencies that specifically detailed an employee's right to religious expression in the workplace. As then-President Clinton said in his remarks on the executive memorandum, ``Religious freedom is at the heart of what it means to be an American and at the heart of our journey to become truly one America.''

America continues to see ever-growing and diverse forms of religious expression, and unfortunately we have also seen an increase in the attempts to undermine religious freedom and expression.

So, as we consider this bill, we should be clear that the Federal employees do not have to check their faith at the door of their workplace and are protected under this bill if they do report violations of the current Clinton-era guidelines. In fact, it is often their faith that makes them the compassionate social worker in the employment office, the loving teacher in the Head Start program and the caring medical professionals treating our wounded soldiers.

There is nothing more personal than a person's faith, and our Federal employees deserve to know that they cannot be forced to check their quality of life at the door. As such, this motion provides that it is an abuse of authority for Federal agencies to prevent a Federal employee from blowing the whistle on instances of retaliation against permissible religious exercise and expression in the workplace.

The definition of permissible religious exercise and expression is drawn from President Clinton's 1997 memorandum to Federal agencies regarding religious expression in the Federal workplace. It includes, for example, the ability of Federal employees to have a Bible on their desk, wear a religious emblem on their clothing, or to express their views to other employees. It also includes provisions protecting against discrimination, harassment and coercion.

I believe this is an important addition to this bill, Mr. Speaker, and I urge my colleagues to support the addition of this language.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source