Documents / Hearing transcript
This is the printed transcript of a September 9, 2025 hearing held by the U.S. House Oversight Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, chaired by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna. The witnesses were Jeffrey Nuccetelli, Alexandro Wiggins, George Knapp, Dylan Borland and Joe Spielberger. They described UAP incursions at Vandenberg Air Force Base from 2003 to 2005 and a tic-tac-shaped object seen from USS Jackson in 2023. Members criticized AARO and called for whistleblower protections and the UAP Disclosure Act.
“Lockheed”3 pages
14 In 2023, patriots provided this Committee and the executive branch with undeniable proof of the UAP reality, and I commend your continued commitment. The future of humanity is one which we either travel to the stars or regress to the stone age with this technology. My career has been to deliver critical information to de- cisionmakers. Your role as elected by your representatives is to act on it. The time to act is now. Thank you. Mrs. LUNA. Mr. Borland, thank you for your service to our coun- try, and we appreciate you. And we are sorry about how you have been treated, and we will make sure that we try to rectify that sit- uation. Mr. BORLAND. Thank you, ma’am. Mrs. LUNA. Mr. Spielberger, please, your opening remarks. STATEMENT OF JOE SPIELBERGER (MINORITY WITNESS) SENIOR POLICY COUNSEL PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT Mr. SPIELBERGER. Chairwoman Luna, Ranking Member Crockett, and Task Force members, thank you for the opportunity to testify here today about the importance of strengthening whistleblower protections, especially in the context of national security. I am a senior policy counsel at the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan independent watchdog organization that investigates and exposes waste, corruption, abuse of power, and when the gov- ernment fails to serve the public or silences those who report wrongdoing. Whistleblowers are the first line of defense to root out waste, fraud, abuse of power, and corruption in our government. Congress relies on whistleblowers so that it can fully exercise its oversight and legislative authorities. It is understandable that former Presi- dents of both parties have often taken a hostile approach toward whistleblowers. Their disclosures can embarrass the President and their political party or even lead to a national scandal. But whistleblowers continue to play a vital role during both Democratic and Republican administrations. They help Congress and the public identify and understand what government corrup- tion looks like. Their disclosures fuel investigations and allow us to address wrongdoing and hold those responsible to account. That is why historically there has been a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress to support and protect whistleblowers. Doing so protects the country and ensures our government is more responsive and accountable to the people. National security whistleblowing in particular is a tradition going back to the founding of our country, and over time, national security whistleblowers and their disclosures have impacted some of the most fundamental issues and questions about how we wish to be governed and how our government can better serve its people, from the role the United States plays around the world to holding powerful actors accountable, government ethics and transparency, human rights and civil liberties, executive branch authority, First Amendment freedoms of speech and dissent, freedom of the press, and the public’s interest and right to know. Despite this invaluable public service, blowing the whistle comes at great personal risk. Whistleblowers risk losing their jobs, ca-
Hearing transcript, from the govinfo collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 54 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.