[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 4, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               DEALING WITH SEXUAL HARASSMENT BY THE ARMY

  (Ms. NORTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, as I speak, Secretary of the Army, Togo 
West, is reporting in the Senate on his progress in eliminating sexual 
harassment following the revelations of last November. I can only hope 
that today's revelation is not emblematic of that progress. The 
headlines read ``Top Enlisted Man Accused of Sexual Harassment.'' I 
hasten to add that the operative words are accused and that the officer 
denies the charges and is entitled to his presumption.
  However, this case is especially troubling. First, because of the 
charge: Sexual assault and sexual harassment; second, because of the 
rank of the accused, top enlisted man, Legion of Merit holder, 29-year 
veteran; third, because of the record of the complainant, a 22-year 
veteran herself recently retired; and, fourth, because of the 
circumstances of the public charge she alleges that became public only 
after months of no action by the Pentagon and only after the accused 
was actually appointed to the panel reviewing the Army's handling of 
sexual harassment. Much better, much faster, Army of the United States.

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