The Senate on Thursday approved a new sexual harassment policy for lawmakers, The Hill is reporting.
A bill, establishing the new policy, was approved by voice vote and will now go the House, which passed its own legislation last year, according to The Hill.
It was introduced by Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. If approved in the House, it would do away with a 30-day counseling period, a 30-day mediation phase and a 30-day "cooling off" period – all currently required for those reporting sexual harassment by lawmakers.
The legislation would require a hearing officer, judge or the Senate Ethics Committee to decide if a congressional member personally harassed someone, The Hill noted.
And it would mandate lawmakers, including those who left office, to repay the Treasury for any settlements linked to harassment they committed.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., praised the revised policy.
"Today’s announcement of a bipartisan deal in the Senate that would finally end a system designed to protect harassers in the halls of Congress is an important step forward," she said.
"By passing this reform, we can finally make sure that when a member of Congress sexually harasses or discriminates against someone on their staff, the taxpayers are not left holding the bag, and it finally removes the barriers that were preventing many victims of harassment and discrimination from reporting what had happened to them, like the absurd “cooling off period” before a formal complaint could even be filed," Gillibrand said.
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