Our view: Franken’s resignation won’t bring lasting change
No one should lament the political demise of Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., amid accusations of groping and harassing eight women. Without admission or apology and with no other choice after Democrats abandoned him, Franken said Thursday that he will resign “in the coming weeks.”
Fine as far as it goes. But ending a few convenient political careers will not foster lasting change. The women who accuse Franken were adults and did not depend on him for their jobs. They could have spoken up at the time.
If Congress is going to change the culture that has allowed harassment to flourish, it needs to keep its eye on the most egregious cases — those where a power imbalance has allowed men to prey on women who feel powerless to do anything about it.
The news has been replete with examples, among them Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein and Roy Moore, Alabama’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Such cases need to be dealt with harshly. And it is Congress that can set the standard. It hasn’t.
Franken lashed out at the “irony in the fact that I am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assaults sits in the Oval Office.” Franken makes a valid point.
What can Congress do? Lawmakers can set an example by revamping the hypocritical and secret system it has used for decades to hide harassers and silence their victims with taxpayer money. For starters, it could release the names of lawmakers, now secret, who have settled harassment claims.
Bipartisan measures already introduced would make the process less cumbersome for workers, get rid of required secrecy going forward, and mandate that lawmakers who settle claims use money out of their own pockets. If Congress fails to change this law, no number of forced resignations will make a difference.
Members of both parties also must demonstrate they hold standards that don’t sway with political winds. Democrats can easily take the high road on the fate of Conyers and Franken, knowing that Democrats would replace them. But what will happen if a lawmaker in a swing district is accused?
As for Republicans, they’re all over the place. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Franken could not “effectively serve the people of Minnesota” any longer, while asserting that Moore’s future is “up to the people of Alabama.” President Trump and the Republican National Committee have heartily endorsed Moore. House Speaker Paul Ryan reiterated his call for Moore to drop out of the race.
The nation’s lawmakers have an opportunity to lead. Every type of sexual misconduct is unacceptable, but not all of it is equal. In the workplace, where bosses hold a person’s livelihood in their hands, harassers must never be tolerated. Nor should anyone get away with criminal acts. At the same time, those accused deserve due process. And not every transgression requires the same punishment.
Congress can still distinguish itself as it works through this minefield, but time to do so is running out fast.