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).
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Inflation remains hot as the January PPI has increased by 1 percent, twice what analysts had been expecting with a jump of 9.7 over the year. Beth Ann Bovino, the U.S. chief economist, for S&P Global Ratings, joined Cheddar News to discuss the rapid pace of inflation alongside higher wages, predicting the Federal Reserve will act quickly and forcefully this year. "They haven't changed their forecast, yet, that's gonna come out soon. But we expect that a March rate hike is basically pretty much baked in the cake," she said. "We think six rate hikes in total for 2022."
For black history month, Cheddar is highlighting black business leaders who are driving the need for representation forward. On February 10, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce hosted an event called 'Developing the Black-Owned Business Ecosystem.' The virtual event was organized under the lobbying group's two initiatives -- the Equality of Opportunity Initiative, and the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. The event highlighted the developments needed to develop more black-owned businesses in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Wilbon, Dean of the School of Business at Howard University, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss his experience as a speaker at the event.
A newly declassified letter by senators Ron Wyden and Martin Heinrich claimed the CIA. has been conducting a Secret Surveillance Program which has been collecting a bulk of data from American citizens. The letter which was written in April of 2021 urges the CIA to come clean about the kind of data it collects and how many Americans have been impacted. According to these two senators, the program did not have the safeguards of congressional oversight.
Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at National Securities, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says investors are taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the situation between Russia and the Ukraine and elaborates on the impact higher oil prices stemming from the conflict would have on the market.
Last week, Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote a a letter airing concerns that the CIA is collecting the data of American citizens without their consent. The lawmakers fear that the program might be exploiting private data. Morgan Wright, the chief security advisor at cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, joined Cheddar News to discuss the ramifications of the letter. "We don't have all the dots in one place to connect them," said Wright, cautioning against jumping to conclusions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that diplomacy is still possible, while U.S. officials warn that an attack on Ukraine is imminent. Cheddar News speaks with James Astill, Washington bureau chief of The Economist on the latest developments in Eastern Europe.
As the number of Russian troops rose to 130,000 along its Ukrainian border, hopes for a diplomatic solution remain among world leaders. Jason McMann, head of geopolitical risk analysis at Morning Consult, joined Cheddar News to break down the fluid situation. "We saw signs pointing towards an increase in tensions between Ukraine and Russia, whereas today we're seeing some signs that the Russian government may be willing to continue down a path of diplomatic negotiations to try and find some sort of non-military solution," he said.
