[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 183 (Thursday, November 9, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           SEXUAL HARASSMENT TRAINING FOR SENATORS AND STAFF

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I join my colleague, the ranking member 
of the Rules Committee, as she seeks unanimous consent to adopt our 
antiharassment training resolution. It is closely modeled on a Senate 
resolution I introduced 2 days ago with Senators Feinstein, Klobuchar, 
Ernst, Gillibrand, and several other colleagues.
  This resolution's adoption marks the first time that this Chamber 
requires sexual harassment training for all Senators, staff, interns, 
and fellows.
  I wrote legislation on this topic after contacting the Rules 
Committee chairman last week to urge that everyone in this Chamber 
receive antiharassment training. This measure's passage with the Rules 
Committee chairman's support, just days after I called for the Rules 
Committee to institute a harassment training requirement for this 
chamber, is a sign of the wonderful things we can accomplish when we 
work together in a bipartisan way.
  More than two decades ago, I sponsored the Congressional 
Accountability Act as a sign of our commitment to promoting fairness in 
the workplace. This 1995 statute requires Congress to follow the same 
civil rights, labor, workplace safety, and health laws to which other 
employers are subject.
  It is certainly time for us to make antiharassment training 
mandatory, but we also may want to revisit the statute to ensure that 
it is working as intended. According to the Washington Post, over 1,000 
former staff have contacted Congress in the last week to urge that we 
revisit policies relating to sexual harassment, and I am fully 
committed to doing so.
  The resolution we have developed would ensure that the Rules 
Committee has the authority necessary to ensure that every Member of 
this Chamber, every employee on the Senate payroll, and every unpaid 
Senate intern receives antiharassment training.
  All of us work hard to ensure that our offices are professional, free 
of harassment, and places where merit is rewarded, but I think we have 
to acknowledge that in our society, despite our best efforts and 
intentions, sexual harassment remains a serious problem. We must work 
together to make sure that the Senate remains free from harassment.
  It is important for every Senate office to have a consistent stance 
on this particular issue. Every office should receive the same training 
so the Senate maintains a culture in which harassment is not tolerated. 
This is a common interest we all share. The voters who sent us here 
expect the best. We owe it to the American people to hold ourselves and 
our employees to the highest standards of conduct and professionalism.
  I will close by again thanking Senators Klobuchar, Feinstein, Ernst, 
and others for working so closely with me on the measure's development. 
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the Senate 
Chief Counsel for Employment and the Office on Compliance, who worked 
with our offices on draft after draft of this resolution. Finally, I 
want to thank our other cosponsors, including our majority leader and 
minority leader. I urge my colleagues to embrace a sensible approach to 
preventing sexual harassment by supporting its immediate adoption.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 330) was agreed to.
  (The resolution is printed in today's Record under ``Submitted 
Resolutions.'')

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