All Female U.S. Senators Implore Leadership, Do Something About Sex Harassment

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, and all 22 female senators — from both parties — have written a letter to Senate leadership expressing their “deep disappointment” in the Senate’s “inaction” in moving sexual harassment legislation forward. They are calling for a vote on the legislation that would overhaul how sexual harassment claims are handled on Capitol Hill. The House of Representatives passed a version of the legislation last month that would reform the Congressional Accountability Act, which set up a process for handling sexual harassment complaints on Capitol Hill, and would hold lawmakers personally liable for paying settlements. But in the nearly two months since, there has been little progress in pushing the legislation forward in the Senate. Surveys shows four out of 10 women congressional staffers believe that sexual harassment is a problem on Capitol Hill and one out of six women in the same survey say they’ve been harassed.