Washington, DC – Vice Chair of Oversight and Government Reform Committee Congresswoman Katie Hill, (D-Santa Clarita), introduced H.R. 1064, a bill that allows whistleblowers to report concerns about classified programs directly to their supervisors and up their chain of command.

The bill passed the House of Representatives on Feb.11, without opposition and now awaits action by the Senate.

“We are fighting for a transparent and accountable government, which means we need to provide protections for the individuals who call out wrongdoing and let us know when something isn’t right. This bill will do just that,” Hill said. “I am proud to fight for our intelligence community and thankful to Congressman Meadows for co-sponsoring this critical legislation and to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Cummings for his support.”

Congressman Mark Meadows (NC-11) is an original co-sponsor of the legislation and the former Chairman of the House Oversight’s Subcommittee on Government Operations.

“Whistleblowers are critical to a culture of transparency and accountability we should all strive for in the government, and their protections should be extended to the intelligence community. Reforms in protection of whistleblowers have been a critical part of our work on the Government Operations Subcommittee over the last few years, and this important bill would take a significant step toward furthering that goal,” said Meadows. “I applaud my colleagues for taking the initiative seriously and want to thank Congresswoman Hill for her work.”

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (MD-7) has also expressed his support for the bill.

“It is critical that we encourage employees to blow the whistle on waste, fraud and abuse. This bill protects employees who do the right thing and report to their supervisors when classified information reveals wrongdoing in their agency,” said Chairman Cummings.