Rep. Jackie Speier: Senate Is 'Dragging Their Feet' on Sexual Harassment Legislation
*By Christian Smith*
The confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has revealed that the Republican Party and its leaders are out of touch with America's women, said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA).
"The Republican Party is about to lose women completely," she said Friday in an interview on Cheddar.
"There's not a welcome mat for women in the Republican Party right now. All we have to do is witness the kind of rhetoric coming out of the president or Mitch McConnell to see that."
Making Congress a more welcoming and safe environment for women is one of Speier's chief missions. She and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the "ME TOO Act" last year to fix Congress' system for handling allegations of sexual assault by its members and staff.
The act pays direct homage to the #MeToo movement, sparked one year ago after several women in Hollywood came forward to accuse uber-producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct and assault.
Under the current system , anyone who files a sexual harassment complaint in Congress must go through months of mediation and legal proceedings before they can officially take legal action.
The "ME TOO Congress Act" would eliminate the mediation requirement, get rid of non-disclosure agreements unless requested by the victim, provide legal counsel for the victim, and ensure that any settlement would be paid for by the member accused ー not the taxpayer.
Speier and Gillibrand have accomplished one thing so far: mandatory sexual harassment training for all members, staff, interns, and fellows on Capitol Hill ー which has been approved in both chambers of Congress.
The full bill has passed in the House, but negotiations continue at a much slower pace in the Senate.
"On the Senate side they are dragging their feet," Speier said.
"It is very obvious having watched the Kavanaugh hearings, and the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and how he looks upon women in general, you can understand why we're still negotiating on the Senate side."
"It's time for us to clean up our act, and in so doing, clean up the federal government's act ー because there's huge problems in the State Department and in the Department of the Interior ー and then move forward into the corporate world as well."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/congresswoman-jackie-speier-brings-metoo-to-capitol-hill).
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