Senate women in both parties pressure leaders for a vote on sexual harassment bill

WASHINGTON – In a bipartisan reproach, all 22 female U.S. senators Wednesday urged their leaders to bring to a vote measures meant to strengthen the hand of victims of sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.

The Senate has so far declined to take up any effort. The House in early February approved a bill that gave accusers the right to free legal assistance and required lawmakers to pay for any settlements, rather than taxpayers.

The House measure also made voluntary a now-mandatory mediation process that has been criticized by opponents as biased against victims and unnecessarily protracted.

“The Senate’s inaction stands in stark contrast to the bipartisan effort in the House of Representatives that led to the passage of bipartisan (harassment) reform legislation in February,” said the senators’ letter, addressed to Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell of Kentucky and the Democratic leader, Charles E. Schumer of New York.

The letter cited a survey showing that 4 in 10 women who are congressional staff members consider harassment a problem in their workplace, and 1 in 6 said they had been harassed. The survey was conducted in July by CQ Roll Call.

No sexual harassment measures were included in the omnibus spending bill passed last week by the House and Senate and signed Friday by President Donald Trump.

“We strongly agree that the Senate should quickly take up legislation to combat sexual harassment on Capitol Hill,” Schumer said through a spokesman.

An aide to Mcconnell suggested that a bipartisan measure was being framed but was not yet close to being proposed.

“Senator Mcconnell supports memtbers being personally, financially liable for sexual misconduct in which they have engaged,” his spokesman David Popp said.

The push to enact new measures to combat sexual harassment in the congressional workplace was spurred in the fall when several members were accused of unwanted sexual acts.

Two Democrats, Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, a rising party star, and Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, the longestserving member of the House, were forced out in early December after accusations of sexual misbehavior were made against them. In Conyers’ case, former aides were among the women making accusations.