Today, Common Cause called on Congress to pass legislation to close the loopholes and disclose settlements that have allowed Members to hide sexual harassment and other abuses for decades. A series of high profile cases involving abuse by Members has brought to light the slush funds and secretive negotiations that have allowed abusers to remain on the job.<\/p>
\u201eDie Amerikaner haben ein Recht darauf zu wissen, wie der Kongress ihre Steuergelder ausgibt, und dieses Schweigegeld, das verwendet wird, um das beklagenswerte Verhalten von Abgeordneten und ihren Mitarbeitern zu vertuschen, ist keine Ausnahme\u201c, sagte Karen Hobert Flynn, Pr\u00e4sidentin von Common Cause. \u201eDiese schwarzen Kassen sowie B\u00fcrogelder wurden viel zu lange als Schweigegeld verwendet und haben es Sexualstraft\u00e4tern erm\u00f6glicht, im Amt zu bleiben. Die Mitschuld des Kongresses an diesen abscheulichen Taten muss aufh\u00f6ren, und die Steuerzahler haben ein Recht auf Transparenz, die sicherstellt, dass sie wissen, dass die Mitschuld aufgeh\u00f6rt hat.\u201c<\/p>
The letter called for House Members to support legislation that would prohibit congressional offices from using Members’ Representational Allowances (MRAs), the Office of Compliance, the House Employment Counsel, or any other “hush fund” to pay for sexual harassment settlements. In the short term, Common Cause urged Speaker Paul Ryan, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and the Committee on House Administration to publicly disclose the names of Members of Congress and congressional staff who have used their offices’ MRA or any other account to pay sexual harassment or misconduct settlements.<\/p>
The letter emphasized that the identities of victims must be protected, unless they decide to reveal their names. The letter deemed the resolution being considered today to require all Members and staff to undergo sexual harassment training a step in the right direction, but not a solution to the problem.<\/p>
Common Cause plans to urge the Senate to pursue similar legislation to address its own workplace abuses. The letter also emphasizes that if congressional budgets were more transparent, heightened attention to harassment and misconduct settlements may have helped prevent some of these heinous acts.<\/p>