Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
The Member and Employee Training and Oversight On Congress Act (ME TOO Congress) Act, authored by Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would require sexual harassment awareness training and reform the process available for staffers to file complaints.
"There is a serious sexual harassment problem in Congress, and too many congressional offices are not taking this problem seriously at all," Gillibrand told reporters in the Capitol.
Changes to Capitol Hill's attitude toward sexual harassment comes as a growing number of female lawmakers come forward with stories of predatory behavior by male members of Congress.
Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced Tuesday that the House will adopt a policy to mandate sexual harassment awareness training for members and staff. The Senate already moved last week to pass a measure requiring the training for its members and employees.
The change to House policy will also occur through legislation, but it's unclear whether it could be the bill unveiled on Wednesday or a more narrow measure previously introduced by Speier only requiring the training.
Under the current system through the Office of Compliance, staffers must go through months of mediation and counseling with the employing office before they can file a complaint. During the mediation process, the parties involved sign an agreement to keep all documents and communications confidential.
If they decide to go forward with a complaint, they can either file it in court or seek an administrative hearing that can eventually lead to a settlement.
Settlement payments are issued out of a special fund operated by the Treasury Department. Speier said on MSNBC on Wednesday that $15 million in harassment settlements, which include for racial and religious discrimination complaints, had been paid over more than a decade.
Speier and Gillibrand are proposing to make the counseling and mediation optional and set a deadline for filing a complaint to 180 days after the alleged violation.
They also want to require an employing office to allow a complainant to work remotely or authorize a paid leave of absence if requested. In addition, their bill would require the Office of Compliance, which would be renamed the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, to create an online reporting system.
Members of Congress accused of harassment would also have to repay the Treasury for the settlements paid to victims.
The Office of Compliance would then publish the names of employing offices and the monetary amounts of settlements on its website.
Unpaid workers on Capitol Hill like interns, fellows and pages would be eligible for the same protections under the legislation as full-time staff.
Reps. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.), Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.) and Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine) have all signed on as co-sponsors.
Comment: Stay tuned for what becomes of this. Also see:
Taxpayers have been footing bill for sexual assault cases in Congress since 1995
Legislation introduced in the past with good intentions that have gone off the rails:
The VAWA, The Duluth Model, Feminism and the politicization of domestic violence
The war for tax dollars and the Violence Against Women Act