[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 23, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2844-S2845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WORKPLACE HARASSMENT LEGISLATION

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, some good news. As the majority 
leader noted, Senators Klobuchar and Blunt have agreed on legislation 
to overhaul the way Congress handles workplace claims to protect staff 
and others from harassment. It certainly needed an overhaul. 
Shamefully, the current system--soon, hopefully, the old system--didn't 
do enough to protect victims and hold perpetrators of workplace 
harassment accountable.
  Among the other crucial reforms, the Blunt-Klobuchar legislation 
would do away with mandatory waiting periods that too often discouraged 
complaints and let them languish. It would also make important changes 
to ensure that Members of the House and Senate are held personally 
accountable and

[[Page S2845]]

liable if they have committed harassment.
  So I want to commend Senators Klobuchar and Blunt, who worked with 
many Members, including Senators Gillibrand, Murray, McCaskill, 
Feinstein, Harris, and Cortez Masto, for putting this together. I also 
thank my colleague, the majority leader. He and I were involved and are 
both cosponsors of this legislation. It is an example, again, of the 
growing sprouts of bipartisanship coming forward in this body. I hope 
we can pass it quickly, with overwhelming, if not unanimous, support.

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