Barbara Comstock emphasizes legislation to fix sexual harassment problem

Photo: Screenshot/NBC News

Virginia’s Republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock called for Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore to step aside and suggested that Democratic Al Franken should also hit the door, as Sunday talk shows weighed in on allegations of sexual misconduct against the two politicians.

Appearing alongside Democratic Representative Debbie Dingell on NBC’s Meet the Press program, Comstock also said any Congressman facing harassment claims should himself pay to settle the complaints and not from a fund. Her comments came after a report claimed that Congress settled claims spending millions of dollars.

When anchor Andrea Mitchell asked Comstock about the former controversial Alabama judge Roy Moore refusing to drop out of the race in the face of nine women coming forward with sexual misconduct allegations, Comstock told her she finds all the women credible.

“Yes, I do. And last week I think I was the first woman in the House to come out and say, “You should step aside.” I’ve been consistent on all these matters,” she said of Moore, who has denied allegations and declined to quit the race.

“For that matter, Al Franken can go hit the door with him,” Comstock said of Democratic Al Franken, who has apologized for his behavior after a Los Angeles radio anchor Leeann Tweeden claimed Franken kissed her against her wish during a foreign trip in 2006. Al Franken has also offered himself for an ethics committee probe.

When pointed out that President Trump has refused to comment directly on the Roy Moore issue, Comstock said the White House has actually been working on the issue.

“Well, I appreciate that the president actually was working with the White House and they’ve cut off funding to him. The National Senatorial Committee is not funding it. So you’ve seen people across the board, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee withdraw their support, say he should step aside. I still hope he will do that and do the right thing.”

Comstock, who also told the story of an unidentified lawmaker exposing himself to a staffer, is working with her colleagues on the Capitol Hill to bring changes to a bill to address the issue of sexual harassment.

“I got together with Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Congressman Byrne. And we both went through all of the items in Congresswoman Speier’s bill and additional things that we want to put in the bill. And we’re on the same page. And we’re going to get mandatory training, universal, uniform anti-harassment, zero tolerance policies in place.

“We are not going to allow members to have any kind of fund pay for their harassment. That is universally agreed on. And we’re also going to have better policies for the victims.”

Congresswoman Dingell said she does not know a woman that does snot have a story to tell when it comes to sexual harassment.

“You know, on Friday, I wasn’t planning on going out and doing that “Me Too” moment because I know that there are consequences. And the point that I was trying to make on Friday was that there are women across the country – restaurant workers, tip waitresses, factory floors, law firms, corporations – so I don’t know a woman that doesn’t have a story, Andrea, in all places all across the country.”

The Democratic Representative from Michigan  said the country should turn the current discussion into a watershed to fix the problem of sexual harassment, and said there were no double standards in addressing the issue.

“No, I don’t think that there’s a double standard. I think we’ve got to be very careful. I am going to say this: that everybody is entitled to be innocent until proven guilty. But when people come forward, there’s a large group of people, Al Franken’s going to the ethics committee, let’s see where that goes. Are there more stories? We can’t defend any of this. These gotcha questions. There is despicable, ugly behavior across the country. And men and women together – you know, here we are, a women’s panel – this isn’t going to get fixed. Men have wives, sisters, daughters, friends, families, we’ve got to fix this together and change the culture. And – by the way – it’s been going on for too long. It’s not just these men. There are a 1,000 names out there – many of them are dead now – let’s fix the problem,” she said.