The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C)

The Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C) applauds the passing of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021 into law. Notably, H.R. 6395 became law on January 1, 2021 without President Trump’s vote after Congress successfully passed override measures after the President’s veto of the defense bill.

Along with matters relating to the U.S. Department of Defense funding authorizations, the NDAA includes provisions the late Representative Elijah Cummings introduced that passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2019. Expressly, the provisions serve to combat federal workplace discrimination and retaliation against whistleblowers.

“We are grateful our lawmakers came together in a bipartisan way to include the equal employment opportunity reforms the late Representative Elijah Cummings championed within the NDAA,” said Tanya Ward Jordan, President of the Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C). “To best defend our national security, America must protect our service members and our civil servants who keep our citizens safe.”

“As the C4C celebrates the bill's passage, we also salute the invaluable leadership of the late Congressman Elijah Cummings," said Paulette Taylor, a disabled veteran, and the C4C’s Civil Rights Chair. "Throughout his stellar career, he championed the cause of both our military and federal employees, who serve to uphold the public trust. President Ward Jordan and I are honored to have known him. Equally, we are most appreciative that he allowed the C4C to provide invaluable input to what is now known as the Elijah Cummings Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination Act. The EEO reforms, which the C4C recommended and the late Representative Cummings introduced, are a part of this historic law.”