The people’s business

Lawmakers cannot get free pass on harassment

If you haven’t heard of many specific cases of sexual harassment in the halls of Congress, there’s a good reason for that. Information about instances of harassment is largely kept secret, even if taxpayer money is used to settle claims.

U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., made a bold move recently when she proposed a bill to remove the cloak of secrecy that protects powerful congressmen, senators and their staffers accused of harassment. She said two current members of Congress — one Democrat and one Republican — have been the subject of sexual harassment complaints.

The accusations against them stand little chance of being revealed to their constituents under the current process for handling such complaints, though. Now, staffers and elected officials who want to complain about harassment take their cases to the Office of Compliance.

But information about complaints — including whether cases are settled and how much money is paid to victims in those settlements — is shrouded in secrecy there. A settlement against Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., was only revealed after the victim came forward.

Bills put forth by Ms. Speier in the House and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the Senate, would make information about the complaints public. Just as importantly, it would require anyone accused personally to pay settlements with their own money, not with public funds.

Ms. Speier said Congress has settled more than 250 complaints of workplace discrimination in the last 20 years, mostly without public notice. The settlements in these cases cost taxpayers about $15 million.

Powerful people who abuse staffers or co-workers in Congress get to do so without the fear of being exposed. And if the claims against them lead to a settlement for their victims, it costs them nothing.

How can this kind of impunity lead to anything but rampant abuse of power?

In recent weeks, both the Senate and the House have announced they will hold mandatory training for elected officials and their staffers to prevent sexual harassment.

Training cannot hurt, but it stands little chance of improving the situation. Face it, most people who harass employees or colleagues do stumble mistakenly into trouble. The problem is not that they do not understand that what they are doing is wrong.

Accountability — real accountability in the form of both public disclosure and personal expense — is what will be required to make elected leaders and their staffers behave responsibly.