National Security Whistle-Blowers to Get Protection

President Barack Obama is providing protection for whistle-blowers in the national security arena so that they can report waste, fraud and abuse without fear of retaliation.

The president has signed a policy directive providing the protection because legislation in Congress has not done so. A rewrite of the whistle-blower protection law is in the Senate. House Republicans removed the proposed protection for those involved in national security.

Under the president's new policy, whistle-blowers who handle classified information -- meaning almost everyone in the intelligence community -- can report wrongdoing or bureaucratic breakdowns as long as they do so within channels at their agencies.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)