The House Ethics Committee is sitting on sexual harassment records by members of Congress.
Unwanted advances. Assault. Cases that were investigated, documented, and then locked away. Victims who came forward, told the truth, and were answered with silence. Members who abused their power, faced no public accountability, and went right back to collecting taxpayer-funded paychecks while constituents knew nothing.
We tried to change that. And Washington did what Washington always does.
We forced a floor vote to require the Ethics Committee to release every record related to sexual harassment and misconduct investigations within 60 days. All personally identifying information about victim and witness identities would have been fully protected and redacted. Everything else would have seen the light of day.
A simple ask. A moral one.
Republicans and Democrats worked together to kill the vote. Congress finds common ground fast when the subject is protecting its own secrets.
This was not a partisan moment. Both parties voted, side by side, to keep those records buried. The establishment protecting itself, as it always does, at the expense of the people it harmed.
Our resolution came on the heels of Representative Tony Gonzales, whose sexually explicit and harassing text messages to a staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, were recently made public. We called for his resignation and meant it. But this was never really about him. It is about a young woman who is now dead. Gonzales will leave Congress and move on with his life. She won’t.
He is not the only one. He is the latest in a long line of powerful individuals in Congress who have preyed on employees or other Hill staff, shielded by a process that was designed to protect victims but has functioned, again and again, to protect the people doing the harm. How many more names are in those files? How many more staffers came forward, told the truth, and
were buried right along with their cases?
Hill employees deserve to come to work without being harassed by their bosses. Women deserve to be safe. The American people deserve to know when their so-called representative is abusing power instead of doing the job they were sent to do.
Every one of the 357 Members who voted against this resolution voted for a cover-up. Some will tell you they voted to protect victims. Don’t let them. Our resolution explicitly protected all victim and witness information. They were not protecting victims. They were protecting themselves and their colleagues. They protected the predators.
Remember that when they ask for your vote.
Any Member who cast that vote should think twice before saying another word about Jeffrey Epstein, too. You do not get to bury your colleague’s sexual harassment records and then say you care about the Epstein victims. Pick a side. You either support survivors or you don’t. You’re either for us, or you’re against us.
To the 65 Members who voted for my resolution: You stood on the right side. History will prove how much that mattered.
The rest have some explaining to do.
This is the establishment in action. It protects itself. It does not protect the victims. The victims deserved better. The people deserve better.
We did not stop there.
The House Oversight Committee passed our motion to subpoena the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, demanding the release of every taxpayer-funded misconduct settlement paid on behalf of Members of Congress. Every Member who used your money to silence the people they harassed will be named. We will make certain of it.
We will not let this go. And neither should you.
Nancy Mace is a Republican House representative from South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
