Capitol Hill's Sexual-Harassment Problem
Representative Jackie Speier knew the sexual-harassment situation on Capitol Hill was bad, but she didn’t realize it was this bad.
“Some of these members, they’re just so blatant about it! You can’t imagine.”
Consider the male lawmaker who asked a young female fellow whether, on an upcoming congressional delegation they were both attending, she planned “to be a good girl or a bad girl.” Fumed Speier, “And if she wasn’t going to be a ‘bad girl,’ there was no point in her coming!”
Or how about the former House aide frequently subjected to skeezy comments from openly leering members a la, “Oh, we don’t need a second cab to get to that event. She can just ride on my lap!”
The bawdy talk, the come-ons, the inappropriate touching—Speier and her people have heard it all in recent days, following the California Democrat’s October 27 revelation that, as a young Hill aide in the
