Right the Ship for Commander Young-McLear!
On January 16, 2023, National Whistleblower Center, Protect Our Defenders, Modern Military Association of America, Whistleblowers of America, and Walk the Talk Foundation sent a letter to United States President Joseph Biden, calling on him to recognize and correct harms against Federal Whistleblower Commander Kimberly Young-McLear.
Whistleblower programs have proven the incredible impact whistleblowers can have on ensuring market integrity and we now call for you to recognize the impact federal whistleblowers have on government integrity and effective oversight.
Whistleblowers throughout our history have played a vital role in restoring trust and integrity within our government institutions, non-government institutions, private corporations, and over public-private contracts. On July 30, 1778, the United States Constitutional Congress unanimously passed its first whistleblowing law. This law was a mandate to release Navy whistleblowers who reported the abuses against prisoners of war and faced retaliation for speaking up. The Constitutional Congress stood with these whistleblowers, signaling the United States commitment to human rights, dignity, integrity, and rule of law – making it a duty of all people to blow the whistle in the face of violations.
In 2014, Commander Young-McLear became a whistleblower when she reported gross and unlawful misconduct within the U.S. Coast Guard. Her extensive years of whistleblowing have shown extraordinary courage – including publicly testifying on Capitol Hill – she exposed systemic abuses of power at the highest levels of the Coast Guard revealing loopholes and disregard to how sexual assault, bullying, harassment, discrimination, retaliation cases are handled . Because of her bravery, Commander Young-McLear’s advocacy has resulted in more than 30 policy improvements across the Coast Guard making the Coast Guard better reflect of U.S. values and increasing compliance with anti-harassment and anti-discrimination laws.
Despite her unparalleled record of performance to the nation advancing the complex multi-missions of the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Commander Young-McLear was and continues to suffer egregious psychological harm nearly nine years later.
