California Rep. Jackie Speier testified before the House Administration Committee that she knows of two current members of Congress who are guilty of sexual harassment — one Democrat and one Republican.
Speier, who revealed her own history of being sexually harassed when she was a staffer on the Hill, is calling for mandatory harassment training for all members and staffers.
“In fact, there are two members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, right now who serve, who have been subject to review or have not been subject to review, but have engaged in sexual harassment,” Speier said in her testimony before the House Administration Committee, which held a hearing on sexual harassment in Congress Tuesday morning.
Speier did not name the members.
The congresswoman also said she had heard of victims “having their private parts grabbed on the House floor.”
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), a member on the committee, also said she had heard of a congressman who is currently serving who had exposed himself to a young female staffer. She did not know the identity of the congressman.
“This member asked a staffer to bring them over some materials to their residence. And a young staffer ― it was a young woman ― went there and was greeted with a member in a towel. It was a male, who then invited her in. At that point, he decided to expose himself,” Comstock said. “She left, and then she quit her job.”
“What are we doing here for women right now,” she added, “who are dealing with someone like that?”
Speier also cited a letter signed by 1500 former Hill staffers going back to the 1970s who say they were sexually harassed.
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