Washington, DC
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, expressed support Tuesday for efforts to prevent and address sexual harassment on Capitol Hill.
The Springfield Democrat said during an editorial board meeting with The Republican / MassLive that he was surprised by reports that Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, secretly settled a sexual harassment claim with a staffer. The news came one week after Democratic Sen. Al Franken faced sexual harassment and groping allegations.
Although Neal said he supports investigating alleged misconduct — and that he supports congressional leaders’ efforts to crack down on the issue — he said he was not aware of its alleged prevalence.
“I can’t say I know that it’s a problem, because then if you say that you know it’s a problem, the next follow up question is why didn’t somebody do something about it?” he told reporters and editors. “So, that’s a surprise to me on Conyers, I had not heard that before.”
Neal, who was first elected to Congress in 1988, further said he was not aware of female Capitol Hill staffers’ reported “unwritten rules” to avoid sexual harassment, which, among other things, advised women to be careful around male lawmakers who sleep in their offices, according to CNN.
The congressman said he believes sexual harassment should be addressed in Congress and elsewhere, and that he supports House Speaker Paul Ryan’s pledge to enhance training on the topic.
“It’s not too little too late,” he said. “I also think it’s a good idea for everybody to get a better handle and understanding of all of this.”
The congressman added that he thinks it appropriate that the Ethics Committee investigate Franken for allegedly groping and forcibly kissing a Los Angeles model and broadcaster in 2006.
He argued, however, that “proportionality becomes pretty important here.”
“The (Harvey) Weinstein allegations, they involved charges of rape. That’s criminality,” he said. “And, the Ethics Committee, which generally doesn’t make judgments about criminality — they make judgments about ethical considerations — there will be some that will end up there.”
Criminal behavior, he said, “needs to be reported to the district attorney, and it needs to be reported to the attorney general and to the Justice Department — that’s where those issues should be referred. And then there’s a process for it afterwards.”
If there are suggestions of harassment on Capitol Hill — or anywhere else — he said, “they need to be addressed.”
Senior Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee called for an ethics investigation into Conyers after BuzzFeed News reported late Monday that the longtime congressman and House Judiciary Committee ranking member settled a wrongful dismissal complaint with a former employee who alleged she was fired for not succumbing to his sexual advances.
Conyers told BuzzFeed that his office “resolved the allegation — with an express denial of liability — in order to save all involved from the rigors of protracted litigation.”
