Membership

Veterans Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

The VAWBC is of Veterans Administration whistleblowers for Veterans Administration whistleblowers. In order to be eligible for membership in the VAWBC you must be a current or former employee of the government who blew the whistle concerning a Department of Veterans Affairs institution (or affiliate institution), where activities disclosed substantially implicates Department of Veterans Administration officials. Veteran patients and family members will be allowed to joint as affiliate members. All applicants must indicate acceptance of the VAWBC - General Agreement below.

To the extent they are able and permitted by their employment conditions, members of the VAWBC should stand ready to help with VAWBC activities, act as a resource for advice and knowledge for VAWBC members in need, and be willing to support and facilitate VAWBC advice to congressional staff, administrators and members of allied public interest organizations.

Membership in the VAWBC is free, and each application for membership is evaluated by the Executive Committee of the VAWBC.

To apply for membership, please provide the following information and indicate acceptance of the VAWBC - General Agreement.

Name

Contact Information:

Street:

City: State: ZIP:

Telephone:
Home: Cell:

Email:

Blew the whistle against which VA or affiliate institution?

Agency:

Briefly tell your whistleblower story below:

My name and biosketch (summary) may be posted on VAWBC: Yes No

All applicants must accept the following VAWBC General Agreement:

VAWBC shall remain completely Non-Partisan. While members have their own political outlooks, views, activities, and parties of choice, our focus must remain on the issues concerning VA whistleblowers. Therefore, inappropriate personal views will not be expressed or voiced during activities carried out by VAWBC (Congressional meetings, Press Conferences, Group Meetings & Forums, etc.). Members shall refrain from using the VAWBC umbrella to further their own cases. While each individual member has his or her congressional relationship and activities related to his or her case, issue, activity; a member cannot pursue his or her personal case/activity/issue with the Congress, by using the VAWBC name or on behalf of VAWBC. One designated person shall review and approve official contacts with the media that are solely regarding VAWBC matters. While we may issue ‘Action Alerts,’ ‘Fax Campaigns,’ ‘Petitions’ for a certain cause/event/issue and ask members to sign, call, and/or contact a target congressional office or target media outlet, all networking and communication with Congress, other organizations, the media, and other members will be carried out centrally, through VAWBC officers or spokespersons). VAWBC will set macro-level objectives and create mission statements. These objectives are dynamic and may expand and evolve, but changes to policy and goals will be implemented only after all members have been notified and after there is general discussion and agreement on new or expanded objectives. VAWBC will currently include only whistleblowers from Veterans Administration agencies dealing directly or indirectly with patient care; those from these agencies who have come forward on issues that deal with government waste, fraud, abuse, and criminal activities that have or could have a negative impact on patient safety. Those who have come forward on issues mentioned above after they have left the agency in question or after they have retired will be considered. Auxillary memeberships will be considered for any United States Veteran or veterans organizations. Since VAWBC is focused on the particular issues mentioned above, and as its name suggests, at this time VAWBC is unable to accept and represent other types of federal government whistleblowers. Our first goal is legislative action and it must be the priority. While VAWBC will try to help its members by providing contact information for press, legal entities, and other government watchdog organizations on issues related to each individual’s case, this is not VAWBC’s primary purpose. A more formalized organization may occur as needed. As this coalition expands, members become familiar with each other, and others volunteer to take on some of these tasks and spend the necessary time fulfilling some of this work, VAWBC will create several positions for these individuals and their positions will be listed. VAWBC will keep contact information of its members confidential. If a member decides to share his or her contact information with others, VAWBC will not be responsible for any resulting consequences. VAWBC will forward any press or congressional request for a specific member directly to him/her, and let the member decide what to do with that request. By accepting below, I signify my agreement with the foregoing common rules/objectives set forth in this VAWBC-General Agreement. I agree to respect and honor all provisions of this general agreement. I acknowledge that by becoming a member of this coalition and by participating in any of its activities, I do so in a completely voluntary manner on my part, and that either I or VAWBC may withdraw from this mutual agreement and coalition with each other at any time, for any reason without recourse or liability on either party.

I Accept: Yes No