Political Quotes

“I want to thank the gentlewoman from Minnesota for her great work here in the Congress and for yielding time. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to this legislation. We all know that sexual assault and harassment are as wrong as wrong can be. Victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault must have their claims heard. They must never be silenced or intimidated into silence. But the outrage we rightly feel on behalf of these victims does not mean we should rush to pass a bill that could leave many of them worse off. In the Judiciary Committee, we heard from experts about why this bill's approach is misguided. For example, some of the bill's supporters repeatedly claim that arbitration is what keeps victims from publicizing their experiences or going to authorities and law enforcement. But arbitration is not automatically secret or otherwise confidential. Agreeing to resolve a case outside of court is different from agreeing to silence. Arbitration does not prevent anyone from speaking out. Anyone who has agreed to arbitrate may still go to authorities and law enforcement to report the wrongdoing, and well they should. There is an important distinction between agreeing to arbitrate and agreeing to silence. This distinction matters because much of the push for this legislation comes from concerns about secrecy rather than from an honest assessment of whether arbitration advances justice.…”