Year Closing with More McCaskill Bills Becoming Law

Bipartisan wins by Senator—including strengthening accountability and law enforcement efforts—continue to stack up

WASHINGTON – The year approaches a close with a series of bipartisan legislative victories from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, including the passage into law of her plan to strengthen the power of watchdogs who guard against waste & abuse of taxpayer dollars at government agencies, and her legislation to bolster Department of Justice and FBI efforts to investigate and prosecute unsolved racially-motivated murders.

McCaskill, along with Republican Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, led efforts to pass the bipartisan Inspector General Empowerment Act, which enhances watchdogs’ ability to oversee waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars at federal agencies.

McCaskill also teamed up with Republican Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina to pass the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act to investigate and prosecute unsolved racially-motivated murders. McCaskill’s bill to extend whistleblower protections to nearly all government contractors is also headed to the President’s desk, as is this year’s annual defense bill—shaped by McCaskill—which includes a number of her priorities including legislation to prevent retaliation against those who report a sexual assault in the military.

“Missourians expect me not to get bogged down in politics, and instead work across the aisle to forge compromise and get results for them. That’s exactly what these bills represent,” said McCaskill, who was recently named the top-ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the top committee for oversight and accountability in government.

The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act encourages the Department of Justice and FBI to partner with advocacy organizations, universities, and other entities that have been gathering evidence on cold cases from the 1960s and beyond. The bill also recognizes the potential for prosecutions at the state level, and seeks to facilitate collaboration between state and federal law enforcement. McCaskill, a strong supporter of efforts to investigate racially-motivated crimes, helped lead the legislation’s original passage in 2008. The bill’s provisions would have expired 2017 if it was not renewed, and she worked closely with civil rights-advocate Alvin Sykes of Kansas City to advance the renewal.

In another step toward strengthening accountability in government, McCaskill’s Senate-approved legislation to extend whistleblower protections was recently approved by the U.S. House of Representatives and now heads to the President’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law. The bill would extend and make permanent current whistleblower protections to nearly all federal government grantees, subgrantees, contractors and subcontractors, as well as prohibit contractors from being reimbursed for legal fees accrued in their defense against retaliation claims by whistleblowers.

And in another bipartisan achievement, this year’s national defense bill includes a plan by McCaskill and Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa to further curb sexual assault in the military. McCaskill and Ernst—both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee—introduced the bipartisan Military Retaliation Prevention Act targeting stubbornly high rates of survivors who report that they have been retaliated against by their peers after coming forward. Those rates of experienced retaliation remain high, even as the number of assaults has dropped and reporting by victims has gone up, following a slate of historic reforms overhauling the military justice system.

McCaskill and Ernst’s retaliation provision was part of sweeping legislation approved by Congress and on its way to the President—shaped by McCaskill—that also includes provisions to fund the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in St. Louis, mental health resources for the National Guard, and resources for construction at Fort Leonard Wood, among other defense priorities.

Visit mccaskill.senate.gov/accountability to read more about McCaskill’s fight for stronger accountability in Washington.

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