“I don’t care what Party you’re in or what title you hold—I stand with the American people for transparency”
Washington, DC—March 5th…Congressman Langworthy today announced that he voted in favor of revealing the names of all members of Congress who have used the taxpayer-funded settlement fund to resolve sexual harassment claims against them.
The privileged resolution forced a vote by the full House that would reveal the identities of those who used the slush fund to settle claims for charges made against them by House employees, campaign staff, and lobbyists. Congress has reportedly paid out more than $17 million taxpayer dollars to quietly settle the cases.
Congressman Langworthy was one of only 65 members who voted to expose this information to the public. A majority of the 357 members instead voted to refer it to the House Ethics Committee, where the names would continue to be concealed. Congressman Langworthy, who is a member of the House Oversight Committee, also voted in the committee to subpoena the records and make them available to the public.
“It’s a disgrace and stain on the institution to have a secret taxpayer-funded slush fund to cover up sexual harassment by members of Congress,” said Congressman Langworthy. “I’m appalled that Congress is shielding the identities of abusers and using precious taxpayer dollars to silence their victims. I don’t care what Party you are in or what title you hold–I stand with the American people for transparency.”
Congressman Langworthy has made government accountability and transparency a top priority in Congress. He co-sponsors legislation to ban members from trading individual stocks and passed signature legislation that would create a centralized public database for executive branch financial disclosures.
