National Whistleblower Appreciation Day is an annual recognition of

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

s whose actions have protected the American people from

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

malfeasance Misfeasance, nonfeasance, and malfeasance are types of failure to discharge public obligations existing by common law, custom, or statute. The Carta de Logu caused Eleanor of Arborea to be remembered as one of the first lawmakers to set up the ...

. Each year since 2013, both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives have passed resolutions designating July 30 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The 2021 Senate and House resolutions designating July 30 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day were passed in July, with Senators

Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States sen ...

(R-IA) and

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...

(D-OR) leading the Senate resolution effort and Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA),

Carolyn Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City ...

(D-NY), and

Kathleen Rice Kathleen Maura Rice (born February 15, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the United States representative for New York's 4th congressional district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before serving in Congress, Rice ...

(D-NY) leading the passage of the House resolution.

Background and History

July 30 has been chosen as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day because it commemorates the passage of the very first U.S. whistleblower law, which was passed on July 30, 1778. The case centered around whistleblowers' complaints about Continental Navy commander Esek Hopkins, whom the whistleblowers alleged participated in torturing captured British sailors. Two of the ten whistleblowers,

Samuel Shaw (naval officer) Samuel Shaw was a Revolutionary War naval officer who, along with Richard Marven, were the first whistleblowers of the infant United States. As a whistleblower, Shaw was instrumental in the Continental Congress' passage of the first whistleblower p ...

and

Richard Marven Richard Marven was a Revolutionary War naval officer who, along with Samuel Shaw, were instrumental figures in the passage of the first whistleblower protection law in the United States. The Continental Congress was moved to act after an inciden ...

, were jailed because Hopkins retaliated against them. Marven and Shaw sent a petition that was read to Congress on July 23 that claimed they had done nothing to warrant their arrests, and on July 30, Congress enacted the first whistleblower law. National Whistleblower Day is commemorated each year with passages of resolutions in the House and Senate, but has not been permanently designated as a holiday yet.

National Whistleblower Day Celebrations

Every year on July 30 since 2015, the

National Whistleblower Center The National Whistleblower Center (NWC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax exempt, educational and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by the lawyers Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP. As of March 2019, John Kostyack is th ...

has hosted a celebration in honor of National Whistleblower Day. The National Whistleblower Day 2021 was held virtually, and nearly 10,000 people were in attendance for the event, which spanned three days. Other National Whistleblower Days have been held on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Past high-profile guest speakers at National Whistleblower Day celebrations include a host of government officials like Senator

, Senator

, and

Michael E. Horowitz Michael Evan Horowitz (born September 19, 1962) is an American attorney and government official. He is the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice. Early life and education Horowitz is the son of Anne J. and Fred Horowitz. ...

, as well as whistleblowers like Enron whistleblower

Sherron Watkins Sherron Watkins (born August 28, 1959) is an American former Vice President of Corporate Development at the Enron Corporation. Watkins was called to testify before committees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate at the beginning of 200 ...

Linda Tripp Linda Rose Tripp ( née Carotenuto; November 24, 1949 – April 8, 2020) was an American civil servant who played a prominent role in the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal of 1998. Tripp's action in illegally and secretly recording Monica Lewinsky's ...

Jane Turner (FBI whistleblower) Jane Turner entered the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Special Agent in October 1978. She was assigned to the Seattle Division and became the first female SWAT member and the first female Profile Coordinator. She was involved in the ...

, and FBI crime laboratory whistleblower

Frederic Whitehurst Frederic "Fred" Whitehurst is an American chemist and attorney who served as a Supervisory Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory from 1986 to 1998. Concerned about problems he saw among agents, he went public as a whis ...

Actions of Senate Resolutions

Actions of House Resolutions

References

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External links

National Whistleblower Day
site hosted by

Whistleblowing in the United States Awareness days