Republicans For Rape

.The HuffPo has an update on the Al Franken amendment passed last week which withholds defense contracts from companies like Halliburton “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.”  The amendment was triggered by the gang-rape of Halliburton employee Jamie Leigh Jones.  If you missed the original story, there is a summary here.

It now appears that the Department of Defense was also opposed to the amendment.

“The DoD opposes the proposed amendment,” reads a message sent from the administration to the Senate on October 6, the day the amendment passed by a 68-30 vote.

“The Department of Defense, the prime contractor, and higher tier subcontractors may not be in a position to know about such things. Enforcement would be problematic, especially in cases where privity of contract does not exist between parties within the supply chain that supports a contract,” reads the DoD note. “It may be more effective to seek a statutory prohibition of all such arrangements in any business transaction entered into within the jurisdiction of the United States, if these arrangements are deemed to pose an unacceptable method of recourse.”

This is ridiculous. While the government has no right to “dictate the terms of employment contracts’, it certainly has the right to refuse to do business with a company which prevents it’s employees from having their day in court.

Two Senators, Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) who opposed the amendment give their reason for doing so.

“This would be a major, fundamental change in U.S. labor law and I believe it would be very detrimental to employees to eliminate arbitration as an option,” Isakson said.

Chambliss added, also inaccurately: “If that happens, these employees’ only recourse will be to litigate suits in court, which is a very lengthy, expensive and time-consuming process.”

If these two assholes had read the amendment they’d know that it gives employees the option of either going to arbitration or litigating the suit in court. The amendment essentially prevents government contracted firms from preventing their employees from going to court.

Here’s a satirical site someone put up with the faces and names of the 30 Rep Senators who are more concerned about Halliburton lobbyists filling their pockets than they do the plight of rape victims.

Republicans For Rape

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