Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for his leadership. I also thank all of my colleagues on the committee and all of those who have participated in this process on this bill and this resolution. I rise in support of both the bill and the resolution. We know sexual harassment is about power--a misuse of power that impacts careers, lives, and self-esteem. We know most women do not come forward and disclose sexual harassment. We know, often, they leave their desired careers because of that. We have seen it in all industries: predators such as Harvey Weinstein in Hollywood; Matt Lauer, Roger Ailes, Charlie Rose in the media; John Conyers and Trent Franks in our own body. So it is so important that this legislation, this historic step, is fundamentally changing that balance of power by creating an office for the victims, the Office of Employee Advocacy. This is the single most important thing in this legislation to restore that balance of power that has been misused by those in power. When I spoke to Dorena Bertussi, who, 30 years ago, was sexually harassed in this body by Congressman Jim Bates from California, she didn't have an office to go to. She didn't even have one that wasn't very good. So now, 30 years later, we are writing this. We now have transparency. People can't hide behind the process anymore. The Members' names will be known. Taxpayers will not be on the hook for any of this. The offender themselves will have to pay.…”