Sec. 8104. (a) None of the funds appropriated
or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or
new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier
requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of
employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or
independent contractor performing work under the contract or
subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of
sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery,
intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or
negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.
To put it in common English, this amendment restricts the government from using funds from this bill to pay contracts with companies that have, as part of their employment requirements, a restriction that employees may not sue if they are raped, sexually assaulted or harassed on the job.
You might ask why such a thing would be necessary. Which means you've probably not heard of Jamie Leigh Jones. Ms. Jones was 20 years old when she went to Iraq to work for KBR, a former subsidiary for Haliburton. While she was there, she was gang raped by her fellow employees and KBR locked her up in a shipping container for 24 hours when she tried to report it, and she was only released when the U.S. Embassy got involved. When she tried to prosecute, she found that KBR had managed to 'lose' important parts of her rape kit. When she tried to sue, she found that her contract included a requirement that she submit to arbitration even in the case of rape and assault.
Other women have come forward with similar reports.
So Senator Al Franken (btw? I will never get tired of typing those words) put forth an amendment to a bill to make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again. It seems like a slam dunk, right? And in the end it was. It won by a wide margin. Sixty something to 30.
"Wait." you might be saying "30 people voted against a measure that keeps the government from making contracts with abusive employers who cover up rape?"
Why yes. Yes, they did. 30 state senators voted against this amendment.
Each and every one of them a Republican. Here's the list!
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Defenses of these votes stated by these Senators included such things as "This is a political attack against Haliburton." (odd, KBR is no longer a subsidiary of Haliburton, and at any rate, how can you make a political attack against a private company) and that it amounts to restricting what private companies can have in their contract (no, no it does not. it restricts whether the government will accept such things from companies that they pay with our tax dollars).
The Daily Show of course said it best.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Rape-Nuts | ||||
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