McCaskill Announces Support for Major Bipartisan Legislation to Combat Harassment in Congress

Press Release

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor, today signed on as an original cosponsor of major bipartisan legislation she helped shape to address harassment in Congress. The proposal would increase transparency for constituents about claims and settlements against their Member of Congress, increase personal liability and responsibility for Members, improve both transparency and confidentiality for victims, and provide a dedicated advocate to employees alleging harassment and discrimination.

"The era of Members of Congress controlling the secrecy of harassment claims with no accountability and a difficult path to justice for victims is over," McCaskill said. "This bill takes the blinders off the public, while still maintaining confidentiality for victims. If the folks who represent you in Washington are found guilty of harassment, they should be personally responsible, and you should know about it."

Following a number of scandals surrounding allegations of sexual harassment against Members of Congress, McCaskill has called for a re-examination of the existing the process for addressing these and other harassment claims and called for reforms. The current process, established by the Congressional Accountability Act in 1995, has been widely criticized for being hard to navigate, lacking transparency, and shielding Members of Congress from personal liability.

The McCaskill-backed bipartisan proposal would:

· Make Members of Congress personally accountable by requiring them to repay awards and settlements stemming from acts of harassment they personally commit.

· Provide congressional employees alleging harassment and discrimination with dedicated advocate and eliminate complicated requirements and mandatory delays to ensure a quicker path to justice by: 1. eliminating the required 30-day counseling period, 2. eliminating the required 30-day mediation phase, and 3. eliminating the 30-day cooling off period before a victim could choose to pursue an administrative hearing or file a civil action.

· Improve transparency in the process and allow employees to decide whether they want to waive their right to confidentiality.

· Prohibit harassment and discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, and uniformed service.

· Strengthen the ability for the General Counsel at the Office of Compliance to conduct investigations into harassment claims.

· Require automatic referral of any harassment or related retaliation claim against Members of Congress or senior staff to the congressional ethics committees.

· Extend protections to unpaid staff including interns, detailees and fellows.

McCaskill has been a key voice in the Senate for targeting sexual misconduct, as well as better government accountability on this issue. The Senate recently passed McCaskill's landmark, bipartisan anti-sex trafficking legislation. In February, the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee advanced her bipartisan bill to improve sexual violence data collection at key federal agencies. McCaskill's bipartisan fix to military law to better guard against "revenge porn" by making such conduct a standard offense across the military recently became law. In 2014, McCaskill announced the results of her unprecedented nationwide survey of how sexual assaults are handled on college campuses, which demonstrated a disturbing failure by many institutions in how they handle sexual violence against students.

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