WASHINGTON — Women senators are ramping up the pressure on chamber leadership to pass legislation to address the issue of sexual harassment and discrimination in congressional offices.
In a letter sent Wednesday, all 22 female Republican and Democratic senators urged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer to bring House-passed legislation on the issue to the floor for a vote.
“The Senate’s inaction stands in stark contrast to the bipartisan effort in the House of Representatives that led to the passage of bipartisan (Congressional Accountability Act) reform legislation in February,” the senators wrote. “Inaction is unacceptable when a survey shows that four out of 10 women congressional staffers believe that sexual harassment is a problem on Capitol Hill and one out of six women in the same survey responded that they have been the survivors of sexual harassment.”
Last year, the chamber passed a measure that required senators and staff to attend anti-harassment and discrimination training once every two sessions of Congress. The senators argue that more needs to be done to address the decades-old statute – known as the Congressional Accountability Act – that limits the ability of victims to pursue immediate legal action.
“It continues to require survivors to endure an antiquated dispute resolution process, including a month-long counseling session, forced mediation and a 30-day “cooling off” period before a victim can make a decision whether to pursue justice in a courtroom or continue with administrative procedures,” the lawmakers wrote.
The senators said the chamber should give victims the same resources available to House staffers, such as free legal representation.
” Survivors who have bravely come forward to share their stories have brought to light just how widespread harassment and discrimination continue to be throughout Capitol Hill,” they wrote. “No longer can we allow the perpetrators of these crimes to hide behind a 23-year-old law. It’s time to rewrite the Congressional Accountability Act and update the process through which survivors seek justice.”
The effort is being led by Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Washington state’s Patty Murray and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.