Whereas, in 1938, a group of employees in Wisconsin banded together to eliminate political influence in the jobs of those employees as revenue collectors, marking the beginning of the National Treasury Employees Union (referred to in this preamble as NTEU ); Whereas that group persisted for 14 years and finally won civil service protections, leading to the establishment of the professional workforce at the Internal Revenue Service that exists today; Whereas, in 1972, NTEU signed the first negotiated bargaining agreement of NTEU, which developed a shared set of responsibilities for managers and bargaining unit employees that were designed to improve the workforce and achieve the mission of the Internal Revenue Service; Whereas, since that initial agreement, NTEU has promoted new and innovative workplace policies that benefit Federal employees and agencies, such as alternative work schedules and telework policies; Whereas NTEU— (1) serves as a powerful voice for the members of NTEU and for Federal employees in general; (2) has successfully sought to promote and defend Federal service as a noble calling involving a variety of challenging and rewarding professions; and (3) has fought tirelessly to ensure that Federal employees are free from discrimination, politicization, and retaliation for disclosing Federal Government waste, fraud, and abuse; Whereas the work of NTEU and the knowledge and skills of the highly trained individuals represented by NTEU who work for the Federal Government contribute significantly to the greatness and prosperity of the United States; Whereas NTEU has grown to represent approximately 150,000 employees from 34 different Federal agencies, and the members of NTEU, among other things— (1) collect the revenue that funds the Federal Government; (2) help protect the borders of the United States; (3) ensure that individuals in the United States have clean air and water; (4) protect consumers, investors, bank depositors, and agriculture commodity traders