Believe it or not, 30 Republican Senators voted against an amendment in the newest Defense Appropriations Bill that would prohibit any contractor from receiving federal funds "if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court."The amendment is in response to the horrendous case of a female Hallibutron/KBR employee who was gang-raped by other employees in Iraq, and then told by the company that if she sought medical treatment outside of Iraq that she would be fired. She was then thrown in a windowless storage container for 24 hours without food, water, a bed, or even a bathroom. Despite this obvious lawbreaking by employees and management at Halliburton, the victim was told that she could not sue the company because her employment contract stated that, "sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration." Halliburton was not singled out in the legislation.
This particular incident was not an isolated one, and numerous other women have come forward with similar allegations. Honestly, I don't understand how a single Senator could have voted against it, yet 30 Republicans did (10 voted in favor). Notable among those voting against is Sen. David Vitter, the serial john whose numerous trysts with prostitutes are well documented.
2 comments:
Admittedly I am not familiar with this legislation. If it is indeed as you lay it out to be, then I am in agreement with you and horrified at any senator voting against this amendment.
It is that way. The bill does not specifically target Halliburton, it says any contractor. And it prohibits companies from receiving federal funds if they do not allow employees to deal with workplace sexual assault outside of corporate arbitration.
I honestly don't see a reason to vote against it. And, the 30 Repubs that voted against it, in turn, voted "no" in a defense bill. Under Republican standards, that means they voted against the troops.
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