No doubt Senator Al Franken is aware that he would become the instant target of a political firestorm if he were to attempt to champion controversial progressive causes in his first year as a United States Senator. After all, his opponents have warned that his election was a sign of the apocalypse, all but promising the end of the world if Franken were to take office in Minnesota. I guess they weren’t fans of his books.

I figure that probably explains why his first amendment was something you’d think would be rather non-controversial. I’m sure he wants to establish himself as a reasonable politician.

Some back story: A female employee for Halliburton, who was serving in Iraq at the time, was allegedly gang-raped by her co-workers then locked in a storage container for 24 hours so she couldn’t report the rape. She also says she was told she’d lose her job if she reported it. When she arrived in the US, she was then told that she couldn’t sue her employers because of a clause in her contract that waived the right to sue in court. Her only option was private arbitration, which heavily favors big corporations.

So, Franken’s amendment was simple: Deny federal funding to defense contractors who require employees to waive their right to a trial in court the event of rape.

The story does have a happy ending because the Amendment passed, but remarkably 30 Republican senators still found a reason to vote against the amendment. Suddenly the same senators who led the firestorm against federal funding of ACORN now felt it wasn’t the government’s job to demand ethical behavior from the companies that accept taxpayer dollars. Not even in the case of gang rape.

I’m sad to say that one of my own senators, John Cornyn of Texas, sided with big business and against rape victims. I’d say he should be ashamed, but if he made this vote I seriously doubt he has one ounce of shame in his body.

No related posts.