A bipartisan group of lawmakers Wednesday unveiled legislation that would make it impossible for Congress to conceal sexual harassment settlements and would require lawmakers to reimburse the Treasury for victim payouts.
The bill’s sponsors, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., announced the legislation a day after Speier revealed Congress has shelled out $15 million in settlements for sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
“This is shameful,” Gillibrand said at a press conference announcing the legislation. “There is a serious problem in Congress and too many congressional offices are not taking this problem seriously at all.”
The legislation restructures the reporting process for those who have been harassed, making it easier for them to receive support, take legal action, and get further counseling.
The current process, established in 1995 in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal involving then Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., is designed to hinder complaints, lawmakers said.
“For all intents and purposes, a staffer in the Capitol is powerless and gagged,” Speier said.
Reports of sexual harassment in the Capitol have prompted both House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to call for mandatory training against sexual harassment for all staff and lawmakers.
The Speier-Gillibrand bill would codify into law an annual requirement for such training.
The name of the bill is the Member and Employee Training and Oversight on Congress Act, which the lawmakers abbreviated to the Me Too Act.
The name refers to the hashtag where people in recent weeks have revealed past instances of sexual harassment.
Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-N.H., a cosponsor of the bill, said she was also harassed as a young woman.
“I didn’t tell anyone for four decades,” Kuster said, adding that the proposed legislation would end the secrecy.
“It empowers the survivors with the knowledge their complaint will be administered fairly,” she said.
The legislation would end the mandatory nondisclosure agreement for those who receive settlements and it would require the Office of Compliance website to identify the lawmaker’s office and the amount paid to a victim.
It would also require a lawmaker found responsible for harassment to pay back the Treasury if settlement money is provided.
