Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., on Friday said a “prominent, historical” figure in Congress sexually harassed and assaulted her in 1982, and that the incident was one of many she has experienced as the wife of a congressman.
“I was lucky the night it happened, I didn’t know what to do. I was in my first year of marriage, tells you how long ago it was,” Dingell told CNN’s “New Day.” “Historical figure, hand kept going up my leg, I took it off. A woman was at my table, recognized what was happening, said switch places.
“I didn’t want my husband to know ’cause I was afraid he might kill him. Everyone in my office knew and the minute we were in a social setting somebody would move in to protect me so I would never be alone,” said Dingell, who married her husband, former Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in 1981.
Dingell, 63, said she would not name who the aggressor was and admitted that that was “part of the problem” in changing a culture where this type of behavior is tolerated.
“I have too many [‘me too’ moments],” Dingell said. “A lot of women don’t have the courage because even though they’ve got the ‘me too’ story, there are consequences. Let this be a watershed moment in changing the culture.”
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., is hoping the increased national attention on sexual harassment and assault in the workplace will help her push through legislation to strengthen the rules in Congress by the end of 2017.
Speier and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., on Wednesday introduced the Employee Training and Oversight on Congress Act, or the Me Too Congress Act, which serves as a way to update the legislative body’s protocols for dealing with harassment allegations, and bring them more in line with the private sector’s modern policies.
They say the current rules, outlined in the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995, helps sexual assault suspects instead of their accusers.
The effort couldn’t be more timely, as the wave of sexual assault allegations that hit Hollywood has now crashed into Washington politics. Alabama’s Republican Senate candidate, Judge Roy Moore, has been accused by several women of assault and inappropriate advances. On Thursday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., was hit by accusations of misconduct that were accompanied by a picture of him reaching for a woman’s chest as she slept.
CNN's Alisyn Camerota: “What is your #MeToo story?”
Rep. Debbie Dingell: “I have too many of them” https://t.co/sw3R0obq1L— CNN (@CNN) November 17, 2017
