Congresswoman Annie Kuster was upset by the photograph showing Al Franken’s hands on a female radio newscaster’s chest as she slept.
“I believe this woman,” Kuster said. “I saw the photograph and I don’t think it’s funny.”
The Democrat from New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District joined a chorus of lawmakers calling for an investigation into Franken’s behavior.
Franken, a Minnesota Democrat who’s serving his second term in the Senate, was firmly in the national spotlight over allegations of sexual misconduct on Thursday, after radio newscaster Leeann Tweeden accused him of kissing and groping her without consent during a USO tour of the Middle East in 2006.
Tweeden said the photo of Franken groping her was taken while she was sleeping. The incident took place more than four years before Franken, a former Saturday Night Live comedian, joined the U.S. Senate.
Franken immediately apologized to Tweeden and pledged to cooperate with any Senate ethics investigation of his actions.
For Kuster, the news hits home. As a young congressional staffer nearly four decades ago, she was a victim of sexual assault.
Last year, Kuster revealed the incident for the first time, on the House floor. She described it in greater detail in an interview with the Monitor and named the man who groped her as Dr. Christiaan Barnard.
“I had no place to turn. I had no one to tell,” Kuster said.
In those days, sexual harassment in the workplace hadn’t been recognized, and there was no legal precedent.
“Even if I had told someone, nothing would have come of it,” she said. “This is why people didn’t tell for so long. There was no upside to telling. There was no consequence to the perpetrator and the downside would be significant. I was 23 years old. This was a famous person.”
“It never occurred to us that 40 years later we would be in Congress having the same situation,” she added.
Kuster stressed that sexual harassment on Capitol Hill is “so common and we need to stop and say, ‘No more.’ ”
On Wednesday, the three-term congresswoman joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers to introduce the “Members and Employee Training and Oversight on Congress Act,” better known as the “Me Too” bill.
During a news conference, Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier of California announced that the congressional Office of Compliance has settled 260 cases over the past 20 years, costing taxpayers $15 million. But the Office of Compliance has not revealed a breakdown of the settlements, so it’s far from clear how many of them were cases of sexual harassment. And the names of the lawmakers who may have been involved has been kept secret.
“This is totally secretive. It’s even worse, because before they can even start the process, the survivor has to sign a non-disclosure agreement,” Kuster said. “So the reason that you’re not having stories of people coming forward right now telling incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment on Capitol Hill, is that those people are not legally allowed to discuss their case.”
Kuster said the Me Too bill would allow victims of sexual harassment in Capitol Hill “to report anonymously for the purposes of getting access to support services, counseling and treatment.” And the name of the perpetrator “whether it’s staff member or a member of Congress,” would be made public.
“I’m totally outraged. I don’t care if it’s one case or 20 or 200, I’m outraged that that the taxpayers have paid out settlements on these cases unbeknownst to us, but also unbeknownst to the constituents in their district,” she said.
“The public deserves to have information,” she added.
Going forward, “settlements would be made publicly available on the Office of Compliance website.”
And taxpayers would no longer be on the hook.
“Offices that are responsible for the settlements, the member would have to reimburse the government for the amount of the settlement,” Kuster said. “Right now the taxpayers are paying the settlement and I think that’s outrageous.”
Kuster also applauded House Speaker Paul Ryan, who on Tuesday ordered mandatory sexual harassment training for all House members and staff, as well as interns and unpaid fellows.
She said Ryan “responded promptly this week on the issue of education and prevention.”
Kuster said it’s “a significant step because the line in the sand has been drawn. This behavior is unacceptable for anyone on Capitol Hill.”