美国国家公共电台 NPR VA Whistleblowers 10 Times More Likely Than Peers To Receive Disciplinary Action

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Whistleblowers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs are feeling some sense of vindication¹ because the Government Accountability Office is saying what they have said for years. Many of those who speak up about mismanagement, fraud or abuse are often silenced, marginalized or even forced out. This GAO report also said senior VA managers are too often not held accountable for misconduct. Some in Congress are demanding that the incoming VA secretary do something about all this. Here's NPR's Eric Westervelt.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE²: In the cases they reviewed, the Accountability Office found that whistleblowers were 10 times more likely than their VA colleagues to face discipline within a year of reporting misconduct. And the report shows that a whopping 66 percent of VA employees who filed formal complaints of wrongdoing didn't work for the agency one year after speaking up. They were forced out, fired or quit. It also shows that senior VA officials who are guilty of misconduct, including gross mismanagement, fraud, abuse and whistleblower retaliation³, often got a lesser⁴ punishment than recommended or no punishment at all. Democratic Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham calls the GAO's findings beyond disturbing. She says veteran health is being jeopardized⁶.

MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM: It means that there is a system that doesn't have the right checks and balances that cannot police itself. So it tells me that patient quality care and safety continues to be at risk because we've got a system that won't address its own problems.

WESTERVELT: There's bipartisan anger at the report's findings. Colorado Republican Congressman⁷ Mike Coffman co-requested the investigation⁸ with Grisham. In an email, Coffman said he has, quote, "repeatedly called for the secretary and the president to end the culture of bureaucratic⁹ incompetence¹⁰ and corruption¹¹ at the VA. But with failing systems and processes, how can this be achieved?" he asked. Grisham, who's now running for governor of New Mexico, says the report shows the need for the Department of Justice to step in and oversee¹² how the VA handles misconduct and retaliation cases.

LUJAN GRISHAM: There needs to be a message to these senior officials immediately that they're going to be held accountable. They weren't held accountable for the wait-time scandal. I can't find a scandal where anyone in the VA system has ever been held accountable.

WESTERVELT: The VA says it agrees with nine of the GAO's 16 reform recommendations. At a congressional hearing this week, acting¹³ VA Secretary Peter O'Rourke defended the agency as undergoing what he called historic, transformative changes. But at the hearing, Representative Kathleen Rice, a New York Democrat⁵, questioned O'Rourke on why VA managers who silence employees seem to face little or no punishment.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

KATHLEEN RICE: It seems to me that there's always the benefit of the doubt given to the people who retaliate¹⁴ against whistleblowers than is given - you can shake your head.

PETER O'ROURKE: I don't agree with that.

RICE: Well, OK. But we've seen example...

O'ROURKE: OK.

RICE: ...After example of it.

WESTERVELT: In a statement, VA press secretary Curt¹⁵ Cashour wrote that the problems the GAO highlights were largely an Obama-era problem and that President Trump¹⁶ has taken steps to fix that. But the GAO's report is not based solely¹⁷ on the Obama era. The oversight¹⁸ body examined a sample of employee misconduct data throughout the VA from October 2009 through July 2017. And while the number of VA workers fired is up under President Trump, congressional Democrats¹⁹ and the VA's union cite VA data showing that the vast majority of those fired in the first five months of 2018 were low-level food service and custodial²⁰ staff, the majority of whom were veterans. In that same period, only 15 out of the more than 1,000 VA employees fired were supervisors²¹. Eric Westervelt, NPR News.

1 vindication   

n.洗冤，证实

参考例句：

• There is much to be said in vindication of his claim.有很多理由可以提出来为他的要求作辩护。
• The result was a vindication of all our efforts.这一结果表明我们的一切努力是必要的。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

5 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

6 jeopardized   

危及，损害( jeopardize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The soldier jeopardized his life to save his comrade. 这个士兵冒生命的危险救他的同志。
• The occasional failed project or neglected opportunity does not jeopardized overall progress. 偶然失败的项目或失误的机会并没有影响总的进展。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

10 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

15 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

16 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

17 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

18 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

19 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 custodial   

adj.监护的，照管的

参考例句：

• The teenagers were convicted of manslaughter and given a two-year custodial sentence. 这些青少年被判过失杀人罪，及二年的监禁（拘留）刑罚。
• This article interrogates the cultural experience of being a non custodial mother. 本文审视一位无监护权的母亲所感受到的文化体验。

21 supervisors   

n.监督者，管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
• Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句