Monica De La Cruz

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Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my bill, H.R. 4646, the Whistleblower Protection Act, which passed with bipartisan support out of the Financial Services Committee. Texas families are stretching every dollar right now while scammers are cashing in on taxpayer-funded programs. While Texas families play by the rules, scammers and corrupt leaders shouldn't get rewarded. That is why I am working to stop the abuse and bring accountability back to Washington, and this bill brings us closer to that goal by strengthening whistleblower protections for those wanting to rightfully blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse in our government. Whistleblower protections are one of the most effective tools that we have to combat waste, fraud, and abuse throughout our government. This bipartisan legislation is simple. It clarifies that whistleblower protections apply to every HUD contractor, a vital step that is necessary due to the bureaucratic implementation of congressionally enacted enhanced whistleblower protections originally passed in 2013. When Congress initially passed these enhanced whistleblower protections in 2013, known as section 4712, it intended them to apply to both contracts awarded before these protections became law and to contracts that predated section 4712 becoming law but have since been modified. Unfortunately, many HUD programs have contracts that are often decades long, meaning that there are still active HUD contracts that predate 2013 and do not include key protections from section 4712, leaving thousands of HUD contractors with uncertainty. This legislation fixes that by providing much-needed clarity to HUD and ensuring that whistleblower protections apply to every HUD contractor, regardless of when a contract was signed. This is something HUD has even asked for, most recently in their fiscal year 2027 budget request to Congress. We must never allow retaliation against people who are simply trying to act in the taxpayers' best interests, and I will never stop rooting out corruption and cutting government waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting my bill, the bipartisan Whistleblower Protection Act, and I reserve the balance of my time.