Congresswomen Jackie Speier & Brenda Lawrence Set To Deal With Capitol Hill's 'Toothless' . . Sexual Harassment Policy, 'A Joke'

“There’s no accountability whatsoever,” Rep. Jackie Speier said Thursday. | Mark Wilson/Getty Images

Politico writes that two female lawmakers -- Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif) and Rep. Brenda Lawrence (D-Mich.) -- and several congressional staffers will are working on new legislation calling for an overhaul of the Congressional compliance office, in view of the landslide of sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations mounting across media, Hollywood, state politics and just about every American workplace from the New York/DC corridor to California -- with touchdowns also in middle America. 

The compliance office is today "constructed to protect the institution -- and to impede the victim from getting justice," according to Congresswoman Speier. This is not her first attempt, having introduced the same bill every year since 2014.

“Many of us in Congress know what it’s like, because Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long,” Speier continued. “It’s time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behavior that has thrived in the dark without consequences.”

In an interview Thursday, Speier called the OCC “toothless” and “a joke.” She said “it encumbers the victim in ways that are indefensible.”

“There’s no accountability whatsoever,” she said. “It’s rigged in favor of the institution and the members, and we can’t tolerate that.” Politico writes that "each congressional office operates as its own small, tightly controlled fiefdom with its own rules and procedures, which makes it that much harder to come forward.

In policies that are difficult to comprehend, before filing a complaint against an alleged perpetrator, victims are required to submit to as long as three months of mandated “counseling" and “mediation,” and a "cooling off period," before filing a complaint against the alleged perpetrator. Welcome to the Dark Ages in the boys club. 

In announcing her new legislation Congresswoman Speier shared her experience years ago as a congressional staff, when the office's chief of staff "held my face, kissed me and stuck his tongue in my mouth."

“Many of us in Congress know what it’s like, because Congress has been a breeding ground for a hostile work environment for far too long,” Speier continued. “It’s time to throw back the curtain on the repulsive behavior that has thrived in the dark without consequences.”

Stay tuned, because this entire conversation should be getting much more attention this time around. Earlier in the week Dem. Women Senators Warren, McCaskill, Heitkamp & Hirono Outline Their #MeToo Stories On 'Meet The Press'.