Congress will make members pay out of pocket for sexual harassment regulations: NPR

After months of deadlock, lawmakers reached an agreement on a bill re-enacting how Congress deals with complaints of sexual harassment.

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After months of deadlock, lawmakers reached an agreement on a bill to amend the process for handling sexual harassment complaints by Congress.

Zach Gibson / Getty Images

Congressional negotiators reached an agreement on the overhaul of the system of handling allegations of sexual misconduct against members, including the obligation for members to pay their dues. pocket certain regulations and judgments.

"For too long, victims of sexual harassment in Congress have been forced to engage in a process that lacks transparency and accountability, and fails at a time when they most need support." said Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., chief negotiator of the bill. "Our bipartisan and bicameral legislation – which we plan to adopt in the coming days – will reshape this broken process, ensure that victims can immediately seek justice and hold members of Congress accountable."

The agreement comes after nearly a year of conflict between the House and the Senate over a deputy. responsibility and other matters in the bill. Senate Rules Committee Chair Roy Blunt, R-Mo., The GOP's Chief Negotiator in the Senate, said he expects the bill to be passed by the Senate this week to ensure better protection for staff members when a new congress will be organized in January.

"We'll do it as fast as we can," Blunt said. "No other employer in America would treat this issue this way – here we have a degree of visibility you would not have if you worked elsewhere."

Blunt says that the bill is a compromise between the legislation of the House, which would have made the members responsible for all the regulations and the Senate bill, which provided for ceilings for the amount that members would have to pay out of pocket.

Under the new rules, members' liability would be capped in cases where a court assessed damages, but there would be no no cap when the business ends with a settlement, said Blunt. At present, settlements are settled through taxpayer funded accounts that members use to pay salaries and office expenses.

The agreement provides legal advisory services for House staff who file complaints and provide legal assistance to Senate staff. This would also eliminate a mandatory "cooling off period" of 30 days before someone can file a complaint.

All regulations and awards involving members would be made public at the time of settlement and an annual report would be made public.

Radical changes that members of the House were hoping to adopt, but minority House leader Nancy Pelosi of D-Calif. Pledged to adopt additional rules when Democrats take over control of the House next year.