The mystery of which senators used "secret holds" to block passage of anti-corruption legislation--the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act--is solved: It is Sen. Jon Kyl (R-NC)and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS). Senator Reid announced that the Senate would have a lame duck session starting November 17, but the House has not yet confirmed its post-election plans.
Activists, concerned citizens and more enlightened members of Congress have been working for eight years to pass into law anti-corruption legislation. All for naught.
The identities of the stonewallers were uncertain last week. Suspects included eight Republicans and the Senate Minority Leader. But now the guessing-game of the culprits who blocked the legislation that was key to purging the federal government of waste, fraud and abuse has been narrowed to two: Kyl and Brownback.
A bipartisan group of Senate offices agreed on a reconciliation bill that they hoped to pass and send to the House of Representatives for final passage. The bill is critical to restoring integrity and fiscal responsibility in our federal government, and previous votes indicate that the bill would have pass with flying colors - but only if it could be presented for a vote before Congress left.
In this age of lies, corruption, secrecy and silence, it is especially ironic that a "secret" hold blocked a transparency bill. Why would Kyl and Brownback object to a critical government accountability bill to strengthen protections for federal employees when they witness fraud, waste and abuse?
More than 230 public interest groups, representating millions of Americans, wrote to support the completion of the landmark, 8-year legislative effort to restore a credible Whistleblwoer Protection Act.
This should have been a no-brainer. Call Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) at (202) 224-3542 and urge him to priortize passing this legislation--H.R. 985 and S. 274--during the lame duck session.