Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his kind words. I thank Mr. Russell also for his very kind words. The bill before us, the Federal Intern Protection Act, would close a loophole in Federal employment law that currently leaves unpaid interns open to discrimination and sexual harassment with no legal recourse. It is interesting. As I listened to Mr. Connolly, he is absolutely right: it is surprising that they don't already have this protection. Last year, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing at which we heard testimony about sexual harassment and retaliation in an EPA regional office. During the hearing, both Chairman Chaffetz and I expressed our disgust at the exploitation of these young women and demanded action to prevent this abuse in the future. Unfortunately, the act of harassing unpaid interns on the basis of race, religion, age, or, in this case, sex is not prohibited by Federal law. Under current law, victims rely on the discretion of managers to prevent this behavior, which is something that doesn't always occur. As one witness testified before our committee: ``Even after finding out about the numerous harassment victims, the direct reporting manager continued to feed the harasser a steady diet of young women.'' That is a very sad commentary. As I have often said, we are better than that.…”