Rep. Debbie Dingell on Tuesday urged House Speaker Paul Ryan to schedule a vote next week on a new bipartisan bill that would reform the way Congress prevents and addresses sexual harassment among members and staff.
“One of the first things we have to do, I hope Paul Ryan schedules Jackie Speier’s bill the week we are back and they need to lead on passing legislation that holds people accountable, doesn’t make the taxpayers pay for it, has everybody pay for it and is transparent,” Dingell, D-Mich., said on CNN.
Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., last Wednesday introduced the Member and 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.
Speier hopes 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.
Dingell, 63, announced last week she had been the recipient of sexual misconduct decades earlier. She said the millions of dollars that the Treasury Department has paid victims over the past 20 years must be reimbursed to some extent and no longer be funded by taxpayers.
“Corporations are doing the same thing. They’re signing these confidential agreements, burying the money that they pay,” said Dingell. “That shouldn’t be tax deductible and shareholders should know who is doing it.”
Dingell is not listed as a co-sponsor on the bill.
