KKC Announces Blog Series Rebutting Attack on False Claims Act

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has initiated an extensive lobbying campaign to undermine America’s most successful whistleblower law, the False Claims Act. Beginning in October, 2013 when the Chamber of Commerce release a report entitled, “Fixing the False Claims Act: the Case For Compliance-Focused Reforms,” the Chamber has extensively lobbied Congress to strip millions of Americans from coverage under the False Claims Act, limit damages, increase the burden of proof on demonstrating fraud and create barriers to block employees from contacting the Justice Department with information on contracting fraud.

Shortly thereafter, George Mason University’s Center for Law and Economics sponsored a Congressional briefingon the Chamber’s proposals. The Chamber hired the former Deputy Attorney General, David Ogden, to be the spokesman for its campaign. At the GMU forum Ogden debated Stephen Kohn on the need for False Claims Act reform.

Thereafter, the Chamber continued its aggressive Congressional lobbying campaign, focusing on the House of Representatives. On July 30, 2014 the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Chamber’s proposals. Even before the hearing was conducted, the committee chairman and the chairman of the responsible subcommittee issued statements in support of the Chambers efforts to destroy the False Claims Act.

Stephen Kohn, on behalf of the National Whistleblower Center, was granted permission to submit written testimony to the Committee. Senator Chuck Grassley testified in strong support of the False Claims Act and washighly critical of the Chamber’s position. The Chamber’s intensive and well-financed lobbying campaign poses a grave threat to whistleblowers.

In order to counter the Chamber’s misleading and distorted justifications for undermining the False Claims Act, Stephen M. Kohn, the pro bono Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center, will publish a 25 part blog series fully rebutting the Chamber’s arguments.

This blog series will be published on the Whistleblowers Blog every Thursday, starting September 18, 2014.

It is critically important that whistleblower advocates rebut the Chamber’s arguments and TAKE ACTION to urge Congress to reject the Chamber’s “reforms.”