Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MILLER of Michigan. Madam Chair, I thank the gentlelady for yielding me time, and I certainly want to thank my colleague from California for offering this very, very important amendment which we are all very supportive of.

This amendment, as has been explained, provides additional funds to the congressional Office of Compliance. This is the agency that really is tasked with making sure that Members of Congress and--very importantly, most importantly--their staff are aware of what their individual rights are and how to protect themselves against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Unfortunately, sometimes it seems like the Members might be protected, but perhaps their staffs are not as well aware and protected as they need to be. This is certainly not a partisan issue. We have seen incidents over the years of Republicans and of Democrats, both sides of the aisle here.

Actually, Madam Chair, this week I met with senior staff at the OOC. I met with all the board members there. We talked about what kind of additional training might be helpful when we put together our new Members orientation program in the fall, various kinds of things that we can do, and, of course, they needed a little bit more cash to be able to really step up, particularly on the Internet and various things, and do awareness training. So this amendment, I think, is very important.

Certainly, Madam Chair, Congress needs to be held to the highest standards, and, at a minimum, we ought to be held to the same standards that we hold private businesses to out in the marketplace and the workplace.

Every employee that works on this Hill needs to work in an environment that they feel is free from sexual harassment, and if they feel threatened in any way, they need to be able to be sure that they understand their rights and what recourse they have to protect themselves without any fear of retribution. I think Congress needs to be a leader on this issue--a leader--and I certainly feel that by conducting awareness training, that will help stop any unfortunate situation, and if we don't stop it, certainly, then, allowing an individual to protect themselves. That, I think, is an important thing for all of us.

So, again, I thank the gentlelady from California for offering the amendment, and I would urge all my colleagues to support this amendment.

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