Wednesday
May142008
Congresswoman and whistle blowers declare, “Not on our watch.”
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 12:02PM
As part of Whistle Blower week, the No FEAR institute held a tribunal today led by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) and Walter Fauntroy. The tribunal met and heard from several different federal government employees, medical doctors, nurses, farmers, military personnel, veterans, whistleblowers and other civil rights activist.
The Whistleblower Week in Washington is set up to promote and encourage laws that protect individuals civil rights of those who report on hazardous, illegal conditions, waste, fraud and abuses of authority in government and government funded positions. At the tribunal today, Jackson Lee and those testifying declared that no more illegal activities or civil rights violations will occur, “not on our watch.”
Several individuals testified about illegal activities in government agencies, lawsuits for crimes they didn’t commit, medical malpractice, and peer review shams in the medical community. One Nurse discussed the use of non-FDA approved drugs on patients in a hospital in Texas. The nurse was fired and her medical license was revoked, and it wasn't until 3 years later when he told an investigative journalist about the illegal activities and the story was published did the government take any action and stop the use of the non approved drugs.
Jackson Lee led the tribunal and stressed the need for future legislation to reduce civil rights violations by companies across the country. The activities this week coincide with he sixth anniversary of the signing of The Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2002, an act that many properly hail as the first civil rights law of the 21st century, said Jackson Lee.
The No FEAR Act requires that Federal agencies be more accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. According to the March 2008 Government Accountability Office Report, between 2001 and 2003, discrimination and retaliation cases cost the government approximately $656 million dollars in judgment and settlement costs.
The Whistleblower Week in Washington is set up to promote and encourage laws that protect individuals civil rights of those who report on hazardous, illegal conditions, waste, fraud and abuses of authority in government and government funded positions. At the tribunal today, Jackson Lee and those testifying declared that no more illegal activities or civil rights violations will occur, “not on our watch.”
Several individuals testified about illegal activities in government agencies, lawsuits for crimes they didn’t commit, medical malpractice, and peer review shams in the medical community. One Nurse discussed the use of non-FDA approved drugs on patients in a hospital in Texas. The nurse was fired and her medical license was revoked, and it wasn't until 3 years later when he told an investigative journalist about the illegal activities and the story was published did the government take any action and stop the use of the non approved drugs.
Jackson Lee led the tribunal and stressed the need for future legislation to reduce civil rights violations by companies across the country. The activities this week coincide with he sixth anniversary of the signing of The Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act of 2002, an act that many properly hail as the first civil rights law of the 21st century, said Jackson Lee.
The No FEAR Act requires that Federal agencies be more accountable for violations of anti-discrimination and whistleblower protection laws. According to the March 2008 Government Accountability Office Report, between 2001 and 2003, discrimination and retaliation cases cost the government approximately $656 million dollars in judgment and settlement costs.
Whistleblowers Welcome
Deputy Director of the FBI, John Pistole, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the Honorable Neil Barofsky and Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita Glavin from the Criminal division testified before a full room at a Senate Judiciary Hearing today, to discuss "The Need for Increased Fraud Enforcement in the Wake of the Economic Downturn."
Chairman of the Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) said: "This is not a partisan issue...we want to strengthen fraud enforcement, the Justice Department, the FBI, the Office of the Inspector General, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and even the Postal Inspection Service."
"One thing I learned as a prosecutor...you can have all the laws of the world in the books but if you don't have the resources to enforce the laws, and actually go out there after people who have broken the laws, they are meaningless."
"We do know that banks and private mortgage companies relaxed their standards for loans, proving ever riskier mortgage and less and less due diligence, it's almost like open the door and saying, 'Hey, come on in fraud is welcome'," Senator Leahy continued.
Also discussed at the hearing were the measures on how to tackle fraud now and in the future in relation to the economic crisis, catching criminal activity, and the Madoff scandal.
With regard to whistleblowers there seemed to be a unanimous agreement by the witnesses, that whistleblowers are an important tool in tackling fraud.
John Pistole said: "Anybody who has credible information, that can help either predicate or enhance investigation we look forward to working with."
Rita Glavin stated that "The Department has enjoyed tremendous success from working with whistleblowers...we have obtained essentially $10 billion in the past 10 years...the Department believes that whistleblowers, who are often insiders, can serve a vital function in our law enforcement efforts in exposing potential fraud in connection with government programs."
Neil Barofsky announced at the hearing that the TARP program encourages people to contact their hotline which can be found on their website if they have any information on fraud. TARP has hired a lawyer to follow all hotline enquiry leads. Barofsky said he would rather they went through 99 false lines of enquiry in order to avoid missing that one real piece of information.
Asked by Senator Edward Kaufman (D-Del) what were the most obvious fraud cases that TARP would move on quickly in order to attempt to get the most number of prosecutions, Neil Barofsky said: "Going after licensed professionals...focussing on exclusively the gatekeepers; the lawyers, the appraisers, the licensed mortgage brokers...making examples of those and letting their colleagues know that criminal behavior in these types of mortgage frauds is unacceptable, because they have the most to lose."