[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4476 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Congressional Whistleblower
Protection Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. PROTECTIONS FOR COVERED INDIVIDUALS.
Section 7211 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by striking ``The right of employees'' and inserting
the following:
``(a) In General.--The right of covered individuals''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(b) Remedies.--
``(1) Administrative remedies.--
``(A) In general.--A covered individual with
respect to a Federal agency (other than a covered
individual described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D))
who is aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may
seek corrective action under sections 1214 and 1221 in
the same manner as an individual who is aggrieved by a
prohibited personnel practice described in section
2302(b)(8).
``(B) FBI employees.--A covered individual with
respect to the Federal Bureau of Investigation who is
aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may seek
corrective action under section 2303.
``(C) Intelligence community employees.--A covered
individual with respect to a covered intelligence
community element (as defined in section 1104(a) of the
National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234(a))) who
is aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) may seek
corrective action under section 1104 of the National
Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3234) or subsection
(b)(7) or (j) of section 3001 of that Act (50 U.S.C.
3341).
``(D) Contractor employees.--A covered individual
with respect to a Federal agency who is an employee of,
former employee of, or applicant for employment with, a
contractor, subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or
personal services contractor (as those terms are used
in section 2409 of title 10 and section 4712 of title
41) of the agency and who is aggrieved by a violation
of subsection (a) of this section may seek corrective
action under section 2409 of title 10 or section 4712
of title 41.
``(E) Burden of proof.--The burdens of proof under
subsection (e) of section 1221 shall apply to an
allegation of a violation of subsection (a) of this
section made under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D)
of this paragraph in the same manner as those burdens
of proof apply to an allegation of a prohibited
personnel practice under such section 1221.
``(F) Class of individuals entitled to seek
corrective action.--The right to seek corrective action
under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) shall apply to
a covered individual who is an employee of, former
employee of, or applicant for employment with, a
Federal agency described in the applicable subparagraph
or a contractor, subcontractor, grantee, subgrantee, or
personal services contractor (as those terms are used
in section 2409 of title 10 and section 4712 of title
41) of such a Federal agency, notwithstanding the fact
that a provision of law referenced in the applicable
subparagraph does not authorize one or more of those
types of covered individuals to seek corrective action.
``(2) Private right of action.--
``(A) In general.--If a final decision providing
relief for a violation of subsection (a) alleged under
subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) of paragraph (1) of
this subsection is not issued within 210 days of the
date on which the covered individual seeks corrective
action under the applicable subparagraph and there is
no showing that the delay is due to the bad faith of
the covered individual, the covered individual may
bring an action at law or equity for de novo review in
the appropriate district court of the United States,
which shall have jurisdiction over the action without
regard to the amount in controversy, for lost wages and
benefits, reinstatement, costs and attorney fees,
compensatory damages, equitable or injunctive relief,
or any other relief that the court considers
appropriate.
``(B) Jury trial.--An action brought under
subparagraph (A) shall, upon the request of the covered
individual, be tried by the court with a jury.
``(C) Burden of proof.--The burdens of proof under
subsection (e) of section 1221 shall apply to an
allegation of a violation of subsection (a) of this
section in an action brought under this paragraph in
the same manner as those burdens of proof apply to an
allegation of a prohibited personnel practice under
such section 1221.
``(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
``(1) the term `covered individual', with respect to a
Federal agency, means an employee of, former employee of, or
applicant for employment with--
``(A) the agency; or
``(B) a contractor, subcontractor, grantee,
subgrantee, or personal services contractor (as those
terms are used in section 2409 of title 10 and section
4712 of title 41) of the agency; and
``(2) the term `Federal agency' means an agency, office, or
other establishment in the executive, legislative, or judicial
branch of the Federal Government.''.
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