Ok. Good afternoon. Im lois frankel, im chair of the democratic womens group and well have two speakers too. Myself and Brenda Lawrence, who is our vice chair. Jackie sigher may come in. Shes our policy of communications hair chair. I want to thank my colleagues who are here today. I thank you for being here today. The me too movement has aremoved. Sexual abuse will not with toll arraignmented, whether its been a hollywood producer, the chef of a restaurant, a member of congress or the president of the United States. No man or woman is above the law. Clear is saying loud ask that accusations of sexual abuse should be taken seriously. Victims must be heard. Perpetrators must be held accountable ask all parties should have an opportunity for a phares lution. To date, more than 17 women have publicly come forward to accuse donald trump of Sexual Misconduct. Kissing, unwanted touching and groping, on an airplane, in a corporate office, in a pageant dressing room. The president tweets denials and his press secretary comes out to say the matter has been litigated. Which is why over 100 democrats, and incidentally, the letter that we are going to talk about as initially sent by 59 overwhelming number of the women in our Democratic Caucus and the men have insisted that they join that so we have over 100 members right now ask that number is rising. Weve drafted a letter for a congressional investigation into the allegations of Sexual Misconduct by donald j. Trump. Simply said, americans deserve truth and with that i yield to representative Brenda Lawrence of michigan. Good afternoon. We in congress are facing a critical point in history. Many are calling it a watershed moment. For too long, accountability has not been the priority and bad behavior has gone unchecked. For too long we have expected copouts like locker room talk. For too long courageous voices have fallen upon deaf eerms and now that time is over. And im sorry, mr. President , ou do not live under a different set of rules. So as a vice chair of the Democratic Womens Working Group and as a member of the Oversight Committee, i stand here to support their right to a voice and to seek justice. I stand here demanding accountability, a full investigation from congress when the white house will not provide its own. I stand here in support of over 100 of my colleagues and im sure millions across america asking for this fair and transparents investigation. Elijah couple, Ranking Member of our Oversight Committee, has already gone out in strong support moving forward with this investigation. We hope that chairman gowdy will recognize the need and surge urgency of this matter. As a member of the Oversight Committee, i call on all of my colleagues to sit on this committee to support and immediately launch this investigation. Regardless of the victim or alleged predator. Every voice deserves to be heard and justice demands transparency. Accountability and due process. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions . Yeah. My first question is, have you gotten any response from the republican chairman about this . Not yet. And my second question, what do you say to republicans who argue this isnt something that congress should be investigating since this happened allegedly before President Trump took office. What do we ion is say to the threans say this has been litigated and happened before the president was elected . The Oversight Committee has very broad jurisdiction. Ill remind everybody of the whitewater investigation years ago when president clinton was investigated for matters that were outside his presidency. What is the end goal of this investigation . Donald trump is not a member of congress. These allegations were made before he was president. What would you like to see happen . I think i ended my remarks by saying right now to get to the truth. And i think if we can get to the truth, i think that will lead to the next step. And im a firm advocate of accountability and that is what were struggling with now and congress but you cant get there until you get to the truth and the american people, with denials and accusations, they deserve to have a thorough investigation that will reveal the facts. I think certainly crimes violations of the law can lead to that. And history has shown us that we impeached a president for inappropriate sexual behavior in the past so i would say history answers that question. [inaudible] i think, go back to the by presidency, there were so many issues being litigateed that may have overshad toad allegations of these many, many women who accused him of sexual abuse. Today, if you look at the model of the country and the me too movement, the time is right to really get to the truth of the matter. And what do i say about roy moore . I dont know, maybe i say it takes one to know one. I think its disgraceful that he would back him. Yes. [inaudible] yes. Did you all hear the question . Yeah, come on. Come over. This is jackie satisfier. You know her. Shes one of the mothers of the movement, also our policy communications go ahead. Thank you. House rule 10 gives the congress of the United States and particularly the house of representatives the authority to investigate anything at any time and it is under that house rule that we are calling on the government Oversight Committee to do the investigation. But what took place this morning when the president tweeted about our colleagues colleague, senator Kirsten Gillibrand is grotesque, it took my breath away it and it represents the conduct of a person who is ill equiped to be the president of the United States. Absolutely. Well all say amen to that. Yes. [inaudible] i think weve all taken this position that we want a fair process here. Some of us have been working with the Administration Committee to get a fair process. I think thats what were all about. I think the Democratic Party has been very strong in saying that there could be an ethics investigation and that you have seen actions from the Democratic Party that were not running away from this. Were standing together and saying accountability goes all the way to the white house. I think we all we believe that sexual Abuse Victims of sexual abuse, perpetrators, theres no specific race or religion or ethnicity or party i think republicans, democrats, independents, theyre all equalopportunity offenders. Anybody else . If not, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Announcer when Congress Returns to capitol hill next week, the house is expected to vote tuesday on the tax reform bill with the senate vote possible on wednesday. Also on the agenda, work on continued funding through the 2018 fiscal year. Current funding runs out friday, december 22. Watch the house live on cspan, he senate on cspan 2. Cspan, where history unfolds daily in 1979. Cspan was create is as a created as a Public Service but americans Cable Companies and is brought to you today by your cable or satellite provider. Were joined by andy kroll, he is a contributing writer of Pacific Standard and hes here as part of our spotlight on magazines to talk about a piece he wrote about the secondary market for retail goods. Thank you very much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. First, tell us what made you want to look amount this issue, what happens to the goods after we return them . Its one of these questions that we never think about but taking