Millionaires and Billionaires cheat on their taxes by hiding their wealth in secret bank accounts. Governments spy on their citizens and lie to cover it up. Defense contractors steal money from taxpayers and endanger our troops in the process.
And they keep getting away with it. Why? Because no matter how hard we try to root out corruption from the outside, it will always be possible to hide fraud behind closed doors.
That is, until a whistleblower comes forward.
Every day, whistleblowers expose fraud and corruption that could only be uncovered with the help of an insider. Often they risk their careers, reputations, and sometimes they even put their lives on the line for truth.
National Whistleblower Day is built on a fundamental part of American tradition; the idea that average citizens can act on their conscience, speak the truth and take part in democracy. On July 30th, 1778, our Founding Fathers signed a unanimous declaration stating that every American is bound by "duty" to blow the whistle whenever they witness corruption or fraud. Our Founding Fathers backed this message by protecting and supporting their own whistleblowers.
However, in the current climate being a whistleblower means standing up for the truth under the threat of losing your career. It’s time our nation's leaders embraced that vision of the Founding Fathers. It's time we as a nation did everything we can to encourage whistleblowers to come forward and speak the truth.
Call on Congress and the President to celebrate whistleblowers by making National Whistleblower Day a permanent day of recognition. July 30th commemorates the day our Founders signed their unanimous resolution making it clear that the United States is a nation which is protected by whistleblowers and protects and supports them in return.
Sign our petition to send a strong message to the President and Congress that you support National Whistleblower Day.
Dear Mr. President and Leaders of Congress:
I'm writing to urge you to publicly recognize the courage of whistleblowers by supporting the creation of a permanent day of recognition for them. On July 30, 1778, at the height of the American Revolution, our Founding Fathers unanimously passed the world's first law supporting whistleblowers. In this declaration, they recognized the duty of all patriotic citizens to report "misconduct, frauds and misdemeanors" to the "appropriate authority."
This was a bold statement articulating what it meant to be a citizen of the new democratic society of the United States. The responsibility for law enforcement was never meant to be the exclusive domain of the state, but rather everyday citizens have always been meant to have the power to speak up, to participate in the never-ending struggle against corruption, and to help define the moral destiny of their society.
We now know that whistleblowers are our first and best line of defense against fraud and corruption. They save the taxpayers billions of dollars, they illuminate threats to public safety, and they play a vital role in ensuring government and corporate accountability.
We're asking you to pass a law recognizing July 30th as National Whisteblower Day. We're also asking you to include in the law provisions requiring the heads of all federal agencies to provide educational material to their employees on their rights as whistleblowers, publicly recognize the contributions of whistleblowers within their agencies, and address what steps they've taken to support whistleblowers within their agencies.
Setting July 30th aside as a day to recognize the vision of our Founding Fathers and celebrate the profound accomplishments of whistleblowers will help to encourage more whistleblowers to come forward.
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Respectfully submitted,
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