{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/senate-unanimously-passes-grassley-leahy-bill-to-protect-whistleblowers-in-criminal-antitrust-cases", "Senate Unanimously Passes Grassley-Leahy Bill to Protect Whistleblowers in Criminal Antitrust Cases", "2017-11-17", "2017", "2017-11", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Patrick Leahy", "L000174", "www.leahy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "11.17.17\n\t\t\t Senate Unanimously Passes Grassley-Leahy Bill to Protect Whistleblowers in Criminal Antitrust Cases \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tThe U.S. Senate Wednesday night unanimously passed the Criminal Antitrust Anti-Retaliation Act to extend whistleblower protection for employees who provide information to the Department of Justice related to criminal antitrust violations.\u00a0 Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), coauthors of the legislation, hailed the Senate\u2019s quick action on their bipartisan measure.\u00a0 Approval of the bill comes just one month after the Judiciary Committee unanimously reported it to the full Senate.\u00a0 Grassley, current Judiciary Committee Chairman, and Leahy, a former chair of the panel, have worked on this legislation since a Government Accountability Office report recommended these changes in 2011.\u00a0\u00a0 The measure has passed the Senate the past two Congresses but was not taken up by the House.\r\n\u201cWhistleblowers who shed light on violations of our antitrust laws not only help to fight crime; they also help protect consumers from less choice and higher prices in the marketplace. Our bill encourages private sector employees to disclose such criminal behavior by protecting them from retaliation at work.\u00a0 Whistleblowers are critical to exposing fraud, waste and abuse in government, and it\u2019s high time we empower whistleblowers in the private sector to do the same for consumers,\u201d Grassley said.\r\n\u201cI applaud the Senate for again acting to advance meaningful bipartisan legislation that will improve the detection and enforcement of antitrust laws.\u00a0 I will now work with Senator Grassley to advance this commonsense legislation in the House and finally get it to the President for signature.\u00a0 No one should be retaliated against for blowing the whistle on criminal activity.\u00a0 If enacted, this legislation will make it harder for bad actors to get away with illegal anticompetitive behavior.\u00a0 Most importantly, it will promote a free and open marketplace and will protect consumers,\u201d Leahy said.\r\nThe bill allows employees who believe they are victims of retaliation to file complaints with the Secretary of Labor, and it provides for those employees to be reinstated to their former status if the Secretary finds in their favor.\u00a0 Leahy and Grassley authored similar whistleblower statutes as part of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002.\u00a0 A copy of the measure approved by the Senate on can be found HERE.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t Press Contact \n\t\t\t\tDavid Carle: 202-224-3693\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t  \n\t\n\t\n\t\n  \n\t\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \t\n    \t\n\t    \t  \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tNext Article\n\t\t    \n\t\t    \n\t\t    \tPrevious Article", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.leahy.senate.gov/press/senate-unanimously-passes-grassley-leahy-bill-to-protect-whistleblowers-in-criminal-antitrust-cases"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5938151627779007, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}