The “MeToo” movement has claimed several Congress members who may have committed acts of sexual harassment or worse – as well as exposing the fact millions of taxpayer dollars have been distributed to alleged victims. Embarrassed by reports of misbehavior by leading lawmakers, a bipartisan group of House members has proposed House Resolution 4494, the Congressional Accountability and Hush Fund Elimination Act.
Curiously, the resolution’s sponsors didn’t spend the extra few minutes it would have required to come up with a clever, easy-to-remember acronym, like the federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) or Connecticut’s HUSKY program (Healthcare for Uninsured Kids and Youth). Even reformist Congress members don’t want to hang an easy-to-remember name on a law responding to actions by his or her chamber’s sleaziest characters.
Still, there’s much good in this resolution, as summarized in a Dec. 29 Washington Examiner op-ed column by Colin Hanna, president of the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit Let Freedom Ring. It would prohibit the use of taxpayers’ money in future settlements of sexual-harassment and sexual-assault cases involving Congress members; prohibit such payments from being hidden within office budgets; require reimbursement to the U.S. Treasury by members whose settlements have been paid from taxpayer funds in the past; allow victims to go public with their stories; and void past nondisclosure agreements.
Best of all, the resolution would “require disclosure of all settlement payments funded by taxpayers,” Mr. Hanna wrote. That means lawmakers who thought they were getting away with using taxpayers’ money surreptitiously to settle complaints about their bad behavior would be exposed.
Since not all senators and House members will slip quietly into retirement, a la Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich.; Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn.; and Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; a small but important side benefit may be forthcoming.
Powerful men such as these may feel entitled to impose themselves on women in their employ, but they also are slow-moving targets for blackmail. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that some of them were innocent of harassment, abuse or assault – but deemed it best to pay off their accusers quietly, especially when taxpayers’ money was available for that purpose. Disclosure would bring about protestations of innocence and personal victimhood from those who wish to continue their political careers.
The people should know whether Congress members, male and female, have used their status and their access to the public purse to deflect accusations of personal misbehavior. But at present, the only narrative is one of sexual predation by powerful members of Congress. If there’s another narrative – one of blackmail and fraud by the weak against the strong – the public should know about that, too.
