The National Whistleblower Center is proud to support the Peace Corps Reauthorization Act, which was introduced today by Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) into the House of Representatives.
This legislation will amend the Peace Corps Act to reauthorize the Peace Corps and better support current and returned volunteers.
At present, there are no effective whistleblower protections for Peace Corps volunteers or employees. The Peace Corps Reauthorization Act will create explicit anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination protections for Peace Corps employees, volunteers, and other parties that receive Peace Corps funds who come forward to report waste, fraud, abuse of authority, and other violations of law. The Act will also allow Peace Corps volunteers and employees to testify before Congress.
The anti-retaliatory and anti-discrimination features of this legislation will serve as a valuable tool to protect Peace Corps volunteers and employees who come forward to report wrongdoing, and they align with best practices of whistleblower protection law. These needed whistleblower protections will be implemented by the Peace Corps Office of the Inspector General.
As Rep. Garamendi noted in his press release, “Congress must support the Peace Corps’ mission and realize President Kennedy’s vision of generations of young Americans ready to serve their nation and make the world a better place. Our reauthorization bill does exactly that, and provides much-needed resources to Corps volunteers.”
This legislation is an important new step in protecting Peace Corps volunteers and employees. You can read NWC’s full letter of support for the bill here and learn more about our work to protect federal employee whistleblowers here.
