Conservatives Call on Congress to Name Members Who Used Tax Money to Settle Sex Harassment Claims
By Melanie Arter | January 26, 2018 | 3:43 PM EST


(CNSNews.com) – A coalition of more than 60 conservatives signed a letter Wednesday calling on the House Republican leadership to take action on a bill requiring the disclosure of members of Congress who used taxpayer funds to settle cases of sexual harassment.

H.R. 4494, the Congressional Accountability and Hush Fund Elimination Act, was introduced in November by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.).

The bill, which has 100 bipartisan cosponsors, requires “disclosure within 30 calendar days of all settlement payments funded by taxpayers, the reason for the payment and the nature of the allegation, and the member of Congress or congressional staffer implicated in the matter.”

It also prohibits “future use of taxpayer dollars to pay sexual harassment and sexual assault claims against members of Congress and staff” and prohibits “members of Congress from using office budgets to camouflage payments.”

Furthermore, it requires “members of Congress and staff that have ever been named in a sexual harassment or sexual assault settlement paid for by taxpayers” to pay the money back to the U.S. Treasury “with interest.”

The Conservative Action Project (CAP), a coalition that includes the CEOs of more than 100 organizations representing all major elements of the conservative movement--economic, social, and national security--sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) urging that the DeSantis bill be given “prompt attention and passage.”

The letter also included a memo entitled, “No Taxes for Hush Money,” which calls for an end of the congressional “hush fund.” The website NoTaxesForHushMoney.com was also launched for taxpayers to urge Congress to “end this outrage.”

Concerned Women for America President Penny Nance, one of the conservative leaders who signed the letter, told CNSNews.com she loves the bill.

“Concerned Women for America has been calling on Congress on Speaker Ryan now for weeks to release that list,” she said. “I mean, really, it doesn’t make sense that the American people are stuck footing the bill for the bad behavior of members of Congress, and it’s our money. We need to know how it was spent.”

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https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/mel...ngress-who-used