LAWRENCE, Kan.- Does the name Jamie Leigh Jones ring a bell? If not, don't worry. I didn't know who she was either until I heard about the bill Sam Brownback voted against that was introduced in her name.
Her story is just as important as it is tragic. Here are the basics, taken from Think Progress:
"In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and "warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she'd be out of a job." (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration."
Minnesota Senator Al Franken proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies that "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court."
In other words, Franken introduced a bill meant to protect victims from any potential ramifications that would come with reporting sexual harassment in the workplace.
But, according to GOP Senator Jefferson Beauregard Sessions of Alabama, giving Jones, a legitimate victim of sexual assault, a day in court would simply be a "political attack" on Halliburton. Our senator Sam Brownback joined him in opposing the amendment, as well as 28 other men.
Maybe I'm missing some information, but why would anyone vote against this? Just imagine being a female employee of a company like Halliburton and trying to fight against them after being gang raped by them in the court of law. What happens when they hire better lawyers than you can afford, or when your name becomes associated with a lawsuit? Frankly, I hope I'll never have to know.
What I do want to know though, is how Sam Brownback can look in the mirror knowing that he voted against this.
Has anyone called Senator Brownback's office to request a comment on his reasoning? If he is considering a run for governor, this would make a fantastic point against him, and knowing his thought process would probably add to the point.
Brownback is an embarrassment. Write a bill on the burning issue of human-animal cross-breeding and vote to make military contractors above all laws. Yes, that's our modern Republican party in action...
Senator Roberts also voted against the Franken Amendment. This blog on the Huffington Post lists the "Dirty Thirty" who voted no:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paula-gordon/the-dirty-thirty-and-the_b_324920.html?view=print