House votes unanimously on sexual harassment. Better late than never?

Grace Carr, DCNF

The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass a bill installing mandatory annual sexual harassment training for its members on Wednesday.

“Today’s unanimous vote to mandate yearly sexual harassment training for members and staff is an important step to ensure Congress is a safe and respectful work environment for everyone,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a Wednesday statement.

“No one—under any circumstances—should feel uncomfortable, intimidated, or targeted at work, especially in the People’s House. Members, staff, interns, and fellows of the House of Representatives should expect to serve the people in a workplace with the highest standards,” the statement continues.

The House will continue to review its employment policies and will make recommendations as it sees fit, the statement added.

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced that the lower chamber was changing its rule regarding sexual harassment training earlier in November. “Since becoming Chairman in January, I have made it a priority to improve the overall professionalism of the House of Representatives,” said House Administration Committee Chairman Gregg Harper regarding Ryan’s statement about the upcoming policy change, according to Politico.

The Committee on House Administration will also hold a hearing on sexual harassment on Dec. 7 that will focus on best practices for reporting sexual harassment and assault allegations according to the CNN.

The House vote comes after NBC announced Wednesday that it had fired “The Today Show” host Matt Lauer after an employee filed a complaint about his inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.

“Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer,” NBC News Chairman Andrew Lack wrote in a memo. “As a result we’ve decided to terminate his employment.”

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