Transcripts For CSPAN Sexual Harassment Abuse Stories 20171226

Every day, some new atrocity occurs, like yesterday or the day before. Three more people came forward with the idea that he had raped them. This has been going on for years and years and years. There were eight settlements against him. Obviously everyone in the company knew about it. I have to say, i wonder about his wife, who i gather last night announced she was leaving him, finally. How she could possibly not have heard about this. How do you think this happened . How is this allowed to go on and on and have nobody ever speak out until now . Gretchen because as a society and as a culture, we protect harassers. If somebody can actually tell me why that is the 20 million question, why . Why do we do that . Is it because we are protecting our own jobs . Is it because we are protecting a person in power . I think those are the top two reasons. But now that the floodgates have been opened, i give so much credit to the women who were able to tell their stories. By the way, eight settlements. Theres probably more. There have been eight have been reported. Sally that does not mean there were only eight people molested or assaulted or raped. We know there were three other people who were raped who have come forward who have not reached settlements. What is the statute of limitation on rape . Gretchen rape is a crime so that is a longer statute of limitations. In regards to Sexual Harassment, you dont have a lot of time to file a claim. It depends on the state, whether it is a federal violation or state violation. That is another thing we need to look into. There are so many ways in which we should look into laws to help more women come forward. Especially with an issue like Sexual Harassment where you automatically do not switch on the light and say, hey, i will come forward. Its less than two years. Sally you said how her jobs, but that does not excuse the men in the company and people on the board of the lawyers and all the people who had to be involved in the settlements with those eight women had to know about it. Why did they not say anything, and who are they . I want their names on the front pages. Gretchen i do, too. Guess what . We would have to fill up every newspaper that existed. It is not just that company. Sally i know that. Gretchen its not just that company where its happening. They are covering it up in hundreds and thousands of Companies Across this country and across the world. The big question you ask is, why do we protect the harasser . What i found out for research in my book, sometimes they even protect a lowlevel employee. I will give you an example. Somebody comes into a job and they are warned, be careful of joe over there. He has been here for 30 years. He has a rude sense of humor. Sure enough, the woman finds out who joe really is and goes to complain, and who do they protect . Joe. He is not a central person to the functioning of the company. He is the ceo of the company, but they protect joe and that woman is phased out. It is at every level. I have to tell you that i fully believe the Harvey Weinstein story. Sally oh you should. Not just you, we all do. I was horrified, but also thrilled that this came out, that he was outed, that he was got fired from his company. They are going to take his name off the company, that he is going into therapy, thrilled his wife is leaving him. I think he should be shunned. This is a huge step forward for all of us who have had these experiences, and we all have. Gretchen yal we all have. And it is a step forward for the enablers, the people you mentioned, who will also be called out. And you know what . They are going to feel the shame that all those women felt and should have. Should not have. Enablers are a huge part of this problem and a huge part of this solution. Sexual harassment training in companies should focus more on enablers than anything else. We should focus on how do we give the courage to the enabler alsot be be enabler and come forward . It is crucial. Sally i said to you earlier as i was reading your book, i got madder and madder. It makes you crazy. You are reading one story after the other. You think, this cant be happening. It cant be happening today, and yet it is. The reason we are here is because of your experience at fox news and your Sexual Harassment suit against roger ailes. I know you cant talk about it, but i can. Gretchen i know you can. Sally i just wanted to read in your complaint. Ailes has unlawfully retaliated against carlson and sabotage her career because she refused his sexual advances and complained about severe and pervasive Sexual Harassment. Ailes retaliated against carlson in various ways, including by terminated her employment on june 23, 2016 and prior thereto among other things ostracizing, marginalizing, and shunning her after making clear these problems would not have existed and could have been solved if she had a sexual relationship with him. When carlson met with ailes to discuss the discriminatory she wast to which subjected, he said, you and i shouldve had a sexual relationship a long time ago. And then you would be good and better and i would be good and better, adding that sometimes problems are easier to solve that way. Carlson rebuffed ailess sexual advances and then nine months later ended her career at fox news. First of all, he was so repulsive. The idea that someone like roger ailes would think he could get away with that, that he would be attractive enough to anyone to even take him up, were it not for the outrage of what he was assuming one of the things you cant talk about it is you did resolve this lawsuit and he reached a 22 million settlement. As far as i am concerned, that is not enough. Why cant you talk about it . Is that not part of the problem . Gretchen it is. Sally in order to reach a settlement, you have to agree not to talk about it. Gretchen just as a caveat with regard to the resolution, im giving a significant amount of that money away to the gift of courage fund. I want to be clear about that. And the proceeds from my book are going to the gift of courage. Settlements, yes. This is the way in which our culture has decided to resolve these kinds of cases. Over 90 of Sexual Harassment cases end up in settlement. What does that mean . That means the woman pretty much never works in her chosen career ever again and can never talk about it. She is gagged. How else do we resolve Sexual Harassment suits . We put in arbitration clauses in Employment Contracts for a secret proceeding. Again, nobody ever finds out about it if you file a complaint. You can never talk about it, ever. Nobody ever knows what happens to you, and in most cases you are also terminated from the company, and the predator comes in many cases, he is allowed to still work in the same position he was harassing you. This is the way our society has decided to resolve Sexual Harassment cases, to gagged women so that we can fool everyone else out there that we have come so far in 2017. The reason we think we have come so far is because we are not hearing about these cases. The reason we are not hearing about the cases is because the women are silenced either through settlement or forced arbitration. Sally suppose you had said, i am bringing this case and i want to settle, but i do not want this silence. What they have said would they have said go away . They would have . Gretchen i was given the benefit of being able to talk about this issue openly and hear share other peoples stories and talk about ways in which i think we should change laws and have a this very conversation right now. That is rare. Sally what do we do to change this from happening to someone else where you can file a Sexual Harassment charge and you can reach a settlement, but the settlement does not include silencing you . How do we go about changing that . Gretchen the first thing we need to do, and this is the work i am doing on capitol hill, we have to take forced arbitration clauses out of Employment Contracts, or at least take the secrecy out of it. I am working diligently to get a bipartisan bill on that because Sexual Harassment is apolitical. Before somebody harasses you, theyll ask you what party you belong. This is why democrats and republicans should care about this equally for their daughters, granddaughters, nieces. I have been meeting with them privately to try to get them on board to support this bill and take the secrecy out of it. So how does that change the landscape . That means if you are sexually harassed, you can file a public complaint and you can have a jury trial, which is your seventh amendment right. The way it works now, if you file a complaint, it is a secret, and you go to arbitration, where only 20 of the time does the victim actually win. It is not like an open court system besides the secrecy. You cannot call the same amount of witnesses, the depositions are different, there is no appeal. And the people hearing the cases are retired lawyers and judges, who may not be as adept at understanding Sexual Harassment in this particular generation. Sally or they may. Thats the problem. Gretchen they are mostly men. Sally that is what i am saying. Gretchen maybe they are not going to side with the victim. So we need to start there. If i can just get a bipartisan bill to pass that takes the secrecy out of this, that is a warning shot to companies that you cannot hide this kind of behavior anymore. Sally explain to me why this is not a nobrainer. When you go to the hill and talk to members of congress and say, i want this arbitration bill. I want this changed. Why would anyone say no . Give me a good reason. Gretchen number one big reason is because democrats are in favor of this and republicans support big business. Sally do they say, there, there, little girl, we are supporting big business . How do they phrase it . Gretchen lets just say this. They are taking the meetings with me. Sally they are . Gretchen and they are listening. I think they are thinking long and hard about the ramifications of their own children. This is why i did this whole thing or their wives. Some of them have even told me that their wives have been sexually harassed. I think this is why people are so frustrated with politicians in general. They speak at of a lot of sides of their mouth. On the one hand, i think rationally theyd look at this and they realize they should be on board. But then they have a whole other constituency. Sally lets talk about silence. The big business guys, because im sure they are guys, will go in to talk to the republican senators or congressmen. They will lobby them and say you cant do this. And the reason you cant do this is because we are sexually harassing these women and we could lose a lot of money. Gretchen they are not that blatant, but i get your point. Sally my point is that is the only reason they could be against it. Gretchen the argument about arbitration is that it is cheaper for the employee. You dont have to hire lawyers and go through a long process of a trial. That is not really true. There are a lot of costs associated with arbitration. Also, the biggest thing is that they companies will say we are doing a service to unclog the court because the courts are already overworked. Sally they care about the court . Gretchen it is a way to solve Small Business disputes by putting them into arbitration. Those are the arguments given. Here is the problem. When you start a new job, youre just happy to have the work and get a paycheck. Youre not thinking about the arbitration clause and you are not thinking that youre going to get into any kind of dispute. I never thought i would be there. When you do and suddenly realize you dont have your seventh amendment right anymore, that is a daunting day, because you realize you really dont have any options and your rights have been taken away from you. This is what i am explaining to these members of congress. Im optimistic about it. Sally this was not your first experience. Tell me a couple of experiences you had before when you were 22. You had two or three experiences that were pretty disgusting. Gretchen unfortunately, it is not my first day at the rodeo. It was when i was miss america, actually. Maybe the blessing of that was that i had built tough skin. When you accomplish Something Like that, suddenly my resume of being a concert violinist, salutatorian, stanford grad, evaporated. I was just dumb. Sally a dumb blonde. Gretchen i forgot the blonde part. , but built the skin a lot that i was meeting with Television Executives because i knew it was a career and wanted to try. Me executive was so nice to all day long and he made phone calls to me and took me to dinner. I thought it would be a great beginning for me. When we got into the backseat of the car service to bring me back to my friends apartment, suddenly he was on top of me with his tongue down my throat. Panicked anding thinking, how the hell am i going to get out of this . I screamed for the driver to stop. I opened the door and i got out not knowing at all where i was. I got to my friends apartment and just lost it in emotion. What so many women have gone through what did i do . Why would he do this to me . Didnt he respect my brain . Was he really trying to help me . All of that just goes away. I never, ever spoke to him ever again. I guess he really did not want to help me. Unfortunately, a couple weeks later i was in los angeles meeting with a highpowered publicist. I was a gogetter, knocking on all the doors trying to get a career started. Unfortunately, i was in a car again with him, and he took my head with his hand, forcefully jammed my head into his crotch so hard that i could not breathe. Sally thats really attractive. [laughter] gretchen im sorry to cause pause. Sally [laughter] this is better than flowers and candy . [laughter] gretchen heres the really fascinating part about this. I never really spoke openly about those stories until recently, but more importantly, it was a friend, when i was telling her the stories who said to me, you realize those were both assaults . I said, what are you talking about . She said that is assault. I had never defined it that way before. I think it speaks volumes about how we normalize this as women, in culture. We think we can overcome it, so we just put it aside, and we dont really acknowledge it for what it is. It was actually Natasha Stoynoff who told me this. Sally thats a great story. Gretchen she was one of the trump victims. She said what happened to her was assault. I tell her story in be fierce. Sally she was a People Magazine reporter. Gretchen she was at maralago, doing a story about the impending birth of the president s latest child with melania. Sally with melania. Gretchen yes, they were together. She said that when melania went up the change her clothing, he took her into a room and forcibly kissed her against her will. She actually took herself off of that premier beat. She told people, which is huge. You need to tell people. Peoplee told magazine at the time . Gretchen and im saying, in general, women should tell people. Tell human beings what happened, because we still live in a he said, she said culture. She is the one when i was interviewing her for my buck and i was telling her what happened to me, she was the one who told me it was assault. Sally and then she came forward with her story. Gretchen she was listening to one of the debates where the president had said he had never forcefully kissed anyone against their will. And she thought, i dont want to be silent anymore. Sally she came out with it and see had been friends with melania. She then ran into melania on the streets and they kissed and hugged and she said, we havent seen you in a long time. Where have you been . After this story, melania denied it, said they never ran into each other, never happened. What do you say about the wives who are enabling their husbands to do this kind of thing . Melania is a perfect example. I do not know about Harvey Weinsteins wife, georgina chapman, but as i said, i can imagine she did not have some inkling of this after 10 years of marriage. Gretchen what i would say to them is that i hope they can find a way in their heart to be fierce and stand up for who they are as women and give themselves more respect. Sally you mentioned jane fonda had had several experiences. What were her experiences . Gretchen she just came out at 79 years old and said she was raped earlier in her career. And she is jane fonda. She has been abused. And she had never told those stories before. This is the culture we live in, where these kinds of stories are stuffed down, and women are made to feel ashamed that something happened to them, when in essence, they were shamed. We have to turn this issue totally in the opposite direction. I do sense it is happening now. Sally i do too. Gwyneth paltrow came forward and so did angelina jolie. I have to say, god love meryl streep for speaking out against Harvey Weinstein, who she had worked with. The issue of shame really fascinates me. I have had, as all women have had, a number of experiences like this. One when i was 19 when senator john tower was supposed to take me to lunch. But then ended up with dinner and i shouldve known better. We had dinner and then he took me to this bar where i should not have gone. We got in a cab and he tried to rape me in the back of the cab. I was so ashamed. I cried for days. I did not tell anybody for a couple of years. And then later, when he came up but then i started telling people. When he came up as secretary of defense, i have these two fbi agents come to the house and say, we heard about your experience and we are checking on towers resume. Tell us about it. I tell us this is totally confidential. I said, i happen to know it is not confidential because i work for the Washington Post and we get our stories from you guys. As it turned out, he was voted down, and nancy, the only republican, voted against him, because she had heard my story. And then pour anita hill, who is another perfect example of this. She did not have my experience or background could she did not know better and talked to the fbi. Of course, they subpoenaed her and she ended up on capitol hill, and her life was ruined. I could have been anita hill. Her life was ruined, and she is now a punchline. She is now anita hill and thats all you know about her. Nevermind that she is a distinguished lawyer. I had a casting couch experience where the producer hired me to be the girlfriend in the movie flipper, about the dolphin. Literally, but you will have to sleep with me if you want the part. I said, i will have to ask my father. I did not get a call back. The producer of 60 minutes sent me to london to cover princess annes wedding. He said im going to make you a star. He flew over and helped me with makeup and hair and all that kind of thing. He took me to my room one night and threw me on the bed. These are stories i never told right away. Then i did write a book about my experience. I mentioned the cbs one, but i never told the john tower story. Gretchen why . Sally because i was ashamed. I was ashamed because i thought you ijust said to should not have agreed to have lunch with him. I was 19. I should not have agreed to go dinner. When he dragged me across the street to the nightclub, i should not have gone. I should have kept him out of the cap. It was my fault. Gretchen we blame ourselves. Sally i still feel that, and i still feel the same way about the producer of 60 minutes. What was i thinking . He was going to help me be a big star. I had just started out on television and i had no experience, but i shouldve known better. It was my fault that i led him on. Gretchen but it was not. Sally the john tower thing, i still feel ashamed, even to this day. How do women get over the shame of thinking we all want to look attractive. I want to look sexy when i go out at night and dress up and do my hair and makeup, and i want people to think i am attractive. Where is the moment when you cross the line . Where you are coming on or asking for it, as opposed to you just want to be an attractive woman . Gretchen i do not think women are ever asking to be assaulted. What i say in the book, you can be wearing a short skirt, hospital scrubs, or army fatigues, it does not matter. And you should not feel any shame, no woman should. Shame is a potent force. Sally how do we get over the shame part of it . Gretchen how we get over it is we talk about it. I have even seen some people say on twitter, Gwyneth Paltrow did not come forward right away, so we should discount what she is saying now. No. Sally thats the other thing. Gretchen no, because this is how it starts. We should never shame a woman who comes forward at all, i do not care when, ever. We should then realize, even if these episodes happened 30, 40 , 50 years ago, i dont care when it happened. As long as you start coming forward, you encourage other women to come forward when it is happening to them now. That is how it works. It is a chain of inspiration. One woman at a time, we bolster the courage. Courage is not something you one just suddenly wake up one day and say, i think i will do this monumental thing. It is a process. It is a process of time, not a light switch. That is one of the greatest myths i have seen on social media. Why did you wait so long . Why did you wait until it was all over . That is such a naive and ignorant question. You dont realize where women are still in society. We are still labeled troublemakers. We are still labeled you just cant take a joke. The bword. Labeled we are still not believed. The best one, we bring all these cases forward because we want to be famous. Sally all right like anita , hill. Gretchen i have never met any of the women i had spoken to, who that was the reason for wanting to come forward. Sally for me, it was over 40 years ago with the john tower thing over 50 years ago. I never told the story until last year when i did tina browns women in the world summit. I was on with kerry washington. In front of thousands of women. I started telling the story and thought i was going to lose it. I almost started to cry because i had never told that story before. At this point in my life. I can only imagine i waited so long to tell that story. Does that make it less legitimate because i waited that long . Gretchen no. Sally but thats the point. It is shame. You dont want to talk about it. You somehow feel embarrassed. Its your fault. You dont want to bring that sort of attention on yourself. Dont want people to think you are a troublemaker, a complainer. But i agree with you. I think that the idea of people talking about it when it happens and telling people the feminist point of view is, and i agree with this, if you say it happened, it happened. It should be done. However, there is this other side of the story. It happens occasionally on College Campuses. And that is, what if somebody is falsely accused . This is an issue and this is something that we cant pretend doesnt exist. I happen to know this because a close friend of mines son was one of the boys at duke y who got thrown out for harassing this woman. It turned out she had made up the whole story and lied. But his life was ruined. He was thrown out of college. I have a lot of friends of mine who have sons in college who basically say, you have to keep a stack of permission slips on your bedside table with a pen and make sure women will sign it if they are going to have sex with you. How do protect your sons . You talk a lot in your book about your children and how to make sure boys understand what the rules are. And how far you can go and what you can do. But there is another side to it, which is sometimes the boys are innocent. In a lot of cases when you talk about men sexually harassing women, particularly in the workplace, it is a different situation. Gretchen totally different. I acknowledge in my book that yes, there are false accusations. However, it is a very small percentage of the problem. Four out of five women will be assaulted on a College Campus. It does not make me feel good with kids who are preteens nor should any parent who is about to send their children up. Its one of the reasons im doing a College Campus tour because you have to get kids young, to form and shape their opinions and the way they look at the world. One expert told me, if you start trying to change the way men perceive women in their 40s and 50s, forget it, it is too late. The main mission for me now is to get to the kids at a young age, so they are building perceptions and respect for women while they are growing up. I do a whole chapter on parenting, too. It is essential. I have worked more for my son than i have for my daughter because i want him when he gets into the workforce in 12 years or so, i want them to look at his female colleagues and respect them with the same way he looks at me now and respect s me. My kids were the most important decision in what i decided to do. When i jumped off that cliff, the only thing i thought about, was how will my kids be . It was probably the biggest decision of my life to do what i did. I would not have done it if i thought it would have harmed my children. In the end, how could i have ever known how any day would be after that day, with no safety net . I had no way of knowing. But i have now seen my children get that gift of courage themselves. Specifically in my daughter, who was looking for courage in certain aspects of her life. When she went to school on the first day of that summer, the first day my resolution was announced, i was anxious for about it. She came home from school and said, a lot of people were asking me what happened to you over the summer. She said, mom, i was so proud to be able to say you are my mom. Sally thats great. What was the Tipping Point for you . Obviously you put up with it and put up with it. The most insidious part was, you were getting higher ratings than anybody else, doing these incredible interviews, you were obviously a hard worker at the top of your game. And yet they started lowering your salary and taking your show away from you, and moving you into a different timeslot, and taking the interviews away from you. Was there a moment where you just said, i am mad as hell, i wont take it anymore . Gretchen first of all, thank you for acknowledging all of that. Thank you. It is a very lonely experience. I thank you for giving me that credit. When i finally realized what i had worked so hard for, more than 25 years toward, when i finally realized that was going to come to an end for me, i realized i had to do this, not so much for myself, but for any other women that would come after me. I wanted the next generation to not have to face the same indignities i had. That was really what it was. It was seeing that what id worked so hard for was going away. Sally was it gradual . I know sometimes when i make decisions, it is something im all over for a long period of time and then i will think, i am going to do this or i cant take this anymore. Gretchen i cant talk specifically about all my emotions in all the years and what i went through their, but i can say in general terms, for women, i often think we are so used to working extra hard, that we feel we can change the dynamic if we just work a little more hard. You keep hoping they will finally see you for who you really are. I often think actually that stronger women are worse victims because of that. We are so used to banging our head against a brick hall to get ahead and we persevere against all odds that we keep fighting instead of saying something. That is the dynamic that needs to change. Sally it mustve been humiliating for you. What about your colleagues at fox . Didnt people say, hmm, i wonder why gretchen just lost the show that had the highest ratings on television . I dont get it. Gretchen you find out who your friends are. Sally how did that happen . Were you disappointed in some of your friends, surprised at the support you got . Gretchen i cannot talk about the people at fox. People can read about all that. [laughter] sally i know you cant talk about it. But in terms of how people in general behaved when they saw what was happening to you. Gretchen it was really fascinating. I will tell you a couple of things. I heard from people i had never heard from in 30 years that i never expected to hear from. That was amazing. Sally you mean supportive . Gretchen yes. Some of my neighbors never reached out to me. That was the flip side of it. Some people came up to me after time had passed and said, we just did not want to trouble you people die. People sign a sympathy card with just their name. My father had always said to me, when you send a card you always should send up memories of the person, because that is what people want to see, not your name. Sally it was a little death. Gretchen but it is not the same. The phenomenon is the same in the sense people do not know what to say to you, so they say nothing. Sally you do go through the stages of grief. Gretchen and ptsd. Which is what you are talking about, you are still experiencing. Guess what, 25 years later, i saw him walking down the hallways of my place of employment and i panicked. I ran up, slammed my office door, i started sweating, shaking. This guy was not going to come to my office and put my head back in his crotch. But this is what happens to you. 30 years ago for you, 25 years ago for me, you do not forget that moment of sheer panic and being out of control and someone violating you. I mustered up the courage to look in the hallway to see if he was still there and ran as fast as i could to the elevator. Sally do you think he even remembered it . Gretchen probably not, if he was doing it all the time. It is normalizing it within the culture. Which brings us back to enablers, why it is so important for people within companies to say, that is not acceptable, what you just did. Imagine if billy bush had said that in the donald trump tape, i am not going to stand for this, mr. Trump, i do not talk that way to women. You see, if somebody would just do that sally there was no way he would have done that. He was a young guy trying to get ahead and donald trump is donald trump. Gretchen but now i think that is going to start happening, i really do. Especially with our younger people. I want to see that their hard work pays off in a good way, that i could see the end result. And i believe that our younger people especially want to get rid of this indignity, i really do. With more and more women coming forward, it is so empowering to women of all ages, but especially our young women just coming into the workforce. They are seeing what happens when other women are speaking up and seeing that they have a voice. Sally when you look at politicians and you see lets start with jack kennedy. My husband was a very close friend of jack kennedys, he and his wife were. They would be at the white house two or three nights a week. He swears my husband was ben bradley, editor of the Washington Post swears he never heard any of the rumors about kennedy because the four of them were close friends. It was not something that came up, so he did not know about it. Later when he started reading all of these stories, he was really shocked. And then kennedy was killed. Shocked and disappointed, then the story came out about the woman he had had an affair with in the white house and she was 21 and he had forced her to have oral sex in the White House Pool with several of the white house staffers. Here is this person who is revered all over the world by everyone, and he was this extraordinary man, there is no question about it. But he was a predator of the worst kind. Gretchen so that makes him not an extraordinary man. Sally and you have bill clinton. The women are the first to stand up and say, if she said it happened, it happened. Suddenly with bill clinton, all the women were liars, it did not happen. And he was a predator. Then you have donald trump. Bill clinton is still revered. You have donald trump, who is so blatantly out there with this, he even talks about it openly. In fact, while he is married, coming on to women like with the People Magazine reporter. The majority of people in this country he was elected president , despite that. And the people who were interviewed said, that his locker room talk. Melania said, that is just boy talk. Gretchen it is not. Sally it is not boy talk, locker room talk. I do not know any man who talks that way, i dont. At least, i do not think i do. I have not been in a locker room lately. The point is, he is revered by many people in this country and they do not seem to care about that. What do you do about changing the culture, in the sense that people will look at donald trump and say simply, that is not acceptable . In anybody, but particularly the president of the United States. Is that with the mothers of supporters are saying to their little boys . This is the president , he can do what he wants to do, so so can you . Gretchen it is a terrible example for our children. Sally what do you do . Gretchen the way i handled that personally, i showed my children that tape. Because i thought it was a teachable moment for them. I know that millions of other parents across the country were grappling with what the heck to do with that. I wrote a New York Times oped about that after he was elected and said, to me, i do not give a damn about any policy you are trying to pass or what party you belong to. To me, human decency supersedes all of that. And that tape showed me what human decency was not. And that is what i shared with my children. Sally did they understand what he was talking about . Gretchen yes. In schools now did i want to show it to them . No. But i thought it was imperative. Whether or not people think that tax policy or immigration policy or any of that is more important than human decency, that is why we live in a free country and they can vote for whomever they want to. I worry that those comments have set us back dramatically. But i am optimistic because of the stories coming out. Sally what is happening now with weinstein, will it make other women and men look at this and say, this is enough . This has gone on too long, we cannot do this anymore. It is so recent. Gretchen i see it. A huge part of the equation, i have a chapter dedicated to this, men who defend. Sally i was about to get to that. Who were the men fighting with you . I read George Clooney had said something about Harvey Weinstein. Gretchen the men in my book range from journalist to men who have made this their life mission, to go into companies and teach them to be more equitable with women and treat them with more respect. There are tons of men out there doing more work for women. Here is why it is crucial. The responsibility of fixing this problem should not only be on the shoulders of women. It is not only our responsibility to make the workplace safer for us. It is more of a mans issue than a womans issue. We need these men on our side to make change. As long as we still have 94 of fortune 500 Companies Run by men, we especially need them on our side in the way they pay us, promote us, decide whether or not we get a seat in the boardroom, and may or may not sexually harass us. Mens voices are critical to making change. That is why i feel, even though it has been a couple days, to see men come out and say what they have been saying, we must support these women and we must stop enabling this, that is huge. It is a cascading effect. I really believe were on the precipice of a major change with regard to this issue. Sally i think Harvey Weinstein may have been the Tipping Point. It was just so egregious and had been going on so long and kept quiet for so long, and then suddenly, it defies the imagination that this could have been happening in this day and age and that people were accepting this and enabling this. One of the things i think in terms of fighting this, it creates an atmosphere of the creep factor. What Hillary Clinton was talking about, donald trump hovering around her during the debate. She said, i wondered if i should say, just get away from me, you creep. Because he was a creep. Only a creep would say what he said on the access Hollywood Tape. It is like smoking. It was cool, but now you think, that poor guy is addicted, he is weak. They will get cancer for a man to shove a womans face in his crotch, i am going to tell everyone what a creep you are. Even if they did not realize it was wrong or did not care or felt entitled, that they would be so terrified of being called a creep i think maybe i kept in my imagination, i was getting angry and thought, we ought to have, every newspaper ought to have the creep of the week. [laughter] gretchen i love that idea, but think youre smoking analogy is a really good one. Mind if i use it . Sally it is all yours, you can also have the creep of the week. Gretchen great analogy. My kids look at smoking now i think him a why is that person smoking . I am going to use that as my barometer for this issue of Sexual Harassment and i will hope that in the next few years or 10 years or 20 years, that is the way in which we will be looking at it. Sally there was a powerful guy in washington, wellknown for putting his hand on womens thighs under the dinner table at fancy washington dinners. He never did anything more than that, and it was creepy and embarrassing, but it was kind of like, you are in the middle of a blacktie dinner, candles and Everything Else and the guy puts his hand on your thigh, and you dont know whether to say, cut it out it would have been so shocking. It was kind of a joke. But i cant look at this guy and not think about that. Gretchen so tell him. Here is where i see hope. Look at somebody like taylor swift. She is in her 20s. Do you think she wanted to take time off for her world tour to testify in a Sexual Harassment groping case . Probably not, but i am so glad she did. She is sending a message, especially to young women, that she will not take that crap. She is a person standing up and saying, get your hand off my thigh, how dare you grope my butt. That also played into this narrative of how we got off to this Tipping Point. If i jump off the cliff, then susan fowler came out it uber, and more people it silicon valley, then you had the sterling jewelry case, then taylor swift and now you have Harvey Weinstein. Look at how far we have come in just 15 months. Sally here is the question in terms of getting this to stop there are two issues. The guys will be scared to do it because they will be called out and humiliated and people will think they are creeps. The other thing is, how do you get them to become decent human beings . How do you get them to realize this is not decent behavior . By the way, some of these people are evangelicals and christians and religious people who tolerate it the most. You mention it briefly in the book. Gretchen there is a horrific story in the book. Sally and this is not an unusual story among religious congregations. We have seen a Sexual Harassment situation in the catholic church. People wont commit crime because they are afraid theyll get caught, but only because they are afraid they will get caught. These guys may only not do it because they are afraid they will get caught. How do you get them to realize this is wrong . Gretchen it goes back to our original point of how we raise them. Sally the mothers and the fathers. Gretchen whatever the family dynamic is, singleparent, partners together. Kids see and hear everything. I found myself over the last 15 months reevaluating how i am parenting and exactly what im saying. What is my dynamic with my husband . Because that is what they are seeing on a daily basis. They are getting cues from that. But also our schools. Why did a study come out that when fiveyearold little girls when they heard something smart, said it could be a man or a woman. But by the time they were six or seven, were not sure he could be a woman . What happens between ages five and six . They go to school. What are these subtle cues at school that make women feel less than boys . It is crucial. Sally you had one line in your book your daughter said mom, you should be president of the United States. A thing my son said when i was married to ben bradley, of the Washington Post, he said, mom, you should be president of the United States. [laughter] sally i read that when you said that. Something must have been going on in the family dynamics. Ben was a tough guy. Gretchen i love to hear that. To finish that story, she was in the car and said, why cant you decide to run today . I said, it is a little more complicated than that. Ironically, i have been asked to run for Political Office since this story unfolded. It is not out of the cards for me, never say never. Sally you had one statistic that blew me away. 43,000 people in the workplace are raped or sexually assaulted every year. Can that possibly be true . Gretchen it is more than that. 70 of people do not come forward. This is an epidemic. It is alarmingly shocking how much this is happening in our culture. Three women accusing President Trump of Sexual Misconduct spoke with the press earlier this month in washington. They told their stories about their encounters with mr. Trump and called on congress to investigate the allegations. Hello, my name is samantha holvey. As a little girl, i would watch the miss usa pageant every year and dream of being one of those beautiful, successful, incredibly confident women. These dreams never included a man lining us all up to look this over like we were pieces of meat, these dreams never included a man coming into the backstage hair and makeup area while i sat naked under a robe as he walked around looking at us like we were his property before he moved into the dressing room. And these dreams certainly never included this same man becoming president of the United States. I have a new dream now. That this man will be held accountable for his actions, and that future generations of women can fulfill their dreams without worry of anyone treating them like they are less than because they are a woman. Thank you. Want to go next . Sure. Good morning. My name is rachel crook. Sure. I think you are all familiar with my story. As a young receptionist in trump tower, i was forcibly kissed by mr. Trump during our first introduction. He repeatedly kissed my cheek and then my lips and it has followed me. It has incurred feelings of the insignificant and self doubt. He was friends of my employers, and owner of the building. There was nothing i could do. Given the toxic work environment, my only solution was to avoid future encounters with him. I realize there are far worse is cases. There is no acceptable level of such behavior. That some men think they can use their power and position into notoriety to demean and attack women speaks to their character, not ours. A tough lesson learned. In my case, i knew was not my fault when i read the account of temple taggart, whose story so mirrored my own that somehow it eclipsed my own image that i had somehow projected a target. It was wrong on the part of mr. Trump. This type of behavior is not rare. People of all backgrounds can be victims. Im here because this offender is now the president of our country. I promise you i wouldve much rather gain Public Interest by something great i accomplished rather than by, in this case, something quite negative. I shared my story because it was relevant. Mr. Trump dismissed his words on the access Hollywood Tape as locker room talk but i knew better. I decided to let mine counter with him be known as on his various others. Our stories seem to fall on deaf ears. Recently the me too movement has gained momentum and women have found strength and the courage to come forward, leaving many powerful men to face the consequences of their actions. Donald trump has remained unscathed although about a dozen women have come forward regarding his Sexual Misconduct and we have video proof of him promoting this behavior. A person with this record would usually have entered the graveyard of political aspirations, yet here we are with that man as president. I want to believe that we can put aside our political inclinations and admit some things transcend politics and we will hold up mr. Trump to the same standard we hold mr. Weinstein and the other men. I ask congress to put aside their Party Affiliations and investigate mr. Trumps history of Sexual Misconduct. Thank you. I am the Senior Member of this group. My story goes way back. It was on an airplane. Three years later i remembered him, we ran into each other. He remembered me. Years later, i come to realize that he is seriously running for president and i start telling my story. 30 years had lapsed, at least. But i told everybody. I told my friends, neighbors, book club, the ladies at the y, anybody and everybody that i could. You know what kind of person trump is . This man running for president . Let me tell you kind of man this is. So obviously, when the Hollywood Tape came out and then that debate happened, i got so angry i wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times. They responded. They did a video and they did a story. Never in a million years did i ever think that one day i would open up my door and pick up my newspaper and find my picture on the front page. The story was as simple as what i just explained. An encounter on an airplane in a totally inappropriate behavior on his part. So then, there was a kind of a scrum with the media as i call it, and the election came and he won. Yet, i was absolutely destroyed. But i figured the United States is a big, strong country. We can survive this person. But, during the course of a year i kept hearing from people who had come up to me on the street, in the subway, at the library, at the grocery store, at the airport one time, in the swimming pool. All people. Everybody had a story. Everybody had some experience of being vulnerable and being attacked. And, i thought things had gotten better for women in business but apparently i was wrong. Then the anniversary came of his election, there was some renewed interest by the media as to what i thought he had all that. Then the weinstein story had and it was like an explosion in a shingle factory. Things were flying all over the place. It became apparent that in some areas, the accusations of sexual aggression were being taken seriously and people were being held accountable. Except for our president. He was not being held accountable. In fact, his staff made a big point of calling us all liars. So, we are at the position now where, in some areas of our society, people are being held accountable for unwanted behavior. But, were not holding our president accountable for what he is and who he is. So, i would like to see this movement. I think the me too movement is fascinating and i hope that includes more movements and we get a change that we should see and we all have to hope. Thank you for sharing your stories. Well take some questions from the media. Ask your name and location. From the Washington Post. You talked quite a bit about the me too movement. Im curious about your next step send what you hope to achieve in the coming weeks and months addressing the concerns you have raised so bravely. Thank you so much for speaking out about those. I do not because im not im too old to have any working knowledge of how the internet works, so i dont i dont know exactly how this me too movement is going. Im just hoping it continues forward and grows. It is like the womans march in january after the election, which was incredible and it was worldwide. So, i am hoping that this will come forward. And reduce enough pressure on congress to and produce enough pressure on congress to address is not through their own members but directly through the president. Will you be trying to push this point forward . If asked. It is not like were running out with banners. I do not think any of us, none of us want this attention. None of us are comfortable with this. I mean, if we had been comfortable with being a star we would have done Something Else with our lives. That this is important, so when asked, we speak out. Thank you very much. I am Juanita Young from reuters. From what committees and if not, what specifically do you want to happen . They have investigated other congress members, so i think it only stands fair that he be investigated as well. I think also, a nonpartisan investigation is very important. Not just for him, but for anybody who has allegations against him. This is not a partisan issue. This is how women are treated every day. This is not a partisan issue. I would just echo what sam said. I mean, i think if they were willing to investigate senator franken i think it is only fair that they did the same for trump. Hello. Fox news. Did the allegations of the president give you hope and do you think that is sure path to getting justice . You know, i was asked that on my interview with cnn last year. What am i going to sue him for . Being really creepy . That is not something that would stand up in court. I am more concerned about as a culture in our country, what is acceptable behavior and if the standards that our president is setting, it is not high enough right now. Right. I mean, the court of Public Opinion would be the best place i think in my opinion for this to be judged. Like you said, it is a cultural thing and we should not let politicians get away with this. In my situation, it is so old that i do not even think a judge would even enter into any sort of case on it. And then, i dont have any thoughts of going to the courts for this. This is really a matter of we have to deal with the public and we have to deal with attitudes and changing a cultural phenomenon here, so its i dont think the court is a place to go. Allison with cnn. Jessica, this is for you. When you had the episode with mr. Trump and the airplane, can you give us some details as to what happened and what happened three years later. Just give us some he tells about those encounters. Jessica i was a traveling sales rep for a paper company. At that time, there were very few women traveling business. I was on this plane. I cannot remember if it was dallas or atlanta, but going back to new york. And, the stewardess came down the aisle and asked me what i like to come up to first class. And, this had happened before. I had been invited up to first class several times. I sat next to some really interesting people like george steinbrenner, ralph nader, various ceos of companies. It was not unusual. And the food was so much better in first class. So i went up, this gentleman was right up against the window. He introduced himself as donald trump. I did not work out of new york city so i did not have any awareness of the trump name or the trump business or donald trump. So, we had dinner. They served the dinner. Cleared the dinner. At about that time, he jumped all over me. And he grabbed me and was trying to kiss me and everything. As i recall, he did not say anything and i certainly did not say anything. I did not yell or ask for help. I remember one point looking over at one point looking over the guy sitting across the isle in thinking, well, why does he not come to my aid . I wondered where in the hell the stewardess was. Then he put his hand up my skirt. That was the last time i wore a skirt traveling. Then, i managed because im not a small person i managed to wrestle myself out of the seat and i stood up, grabbed my purse, and went to the back of the airplane and sat back there until the plane landed. Let the plane deplane, all of the people got up before i left because i did not want to run into him again. Fast forward three years. I am now living in new york city. And i go to work for the Humane Society on 59th street and they are going to have this big, fancy fundraising gala at saks fifth avenue. They asked me to man the table distribution. I go in it is absolutely a new york scene. I got to meet all of the designers. Various and sundry people, because the Humane Society is a charity was very very interested in inviting all of the celebrities in town and that is when i became aware that donald trump was the donald trump of the trump family of new york city and i recognizes picture. I recognized him. People remember when they are assaulted. They remember when, where, why, what they had on, how they got out of it, they remember everything. Even if it happened when they were eightyearsold. So, im handing out the chits for the tables and outcomes donald trump at that time, his wife ivana. Of honor, right . And ivana was very pregnant. And i handed the ticket and i am thinking the back of my mind, yet, that is the guy. And he looks at me and he says i remember you. You are the woman from the airplane. Only he used another term before woman. And it cleared the room. It absolutely cleared the room. He went on. I went home. That was the end of the story. That was 1983 . In 2016, when i realized that he was really serious about running for president i started telling my story to everybody. I said, let me tell you what kind of a person this donald trump is. Let me tell you what kind person this donald trump is. I told everybody i could get to sit down. I told my family, friends, neighbors come told everybody. Some people do not believe me which i understand completely because it was so long ago. But, i wanted to get it out. And then the debate happened. And he lied about it. And also the hollywood bus tapes came out and i just was so infuriated that i wrote a letter to the editor and they called me and i thought i am going to get it published. This is really super. But no, they sent over a reporter. They asked for the people that i told over the years. They call them, confirmed the story. Then they wrote it up. That is really what happened. Announcer tarana burke is an activist who started the movement called me too more than a decade ago. The goal being to raise awareness about harassment and abuse. She spoke earlier this month at a conference called women role in washington. It begins with a video about the me too movement. Thousands of women are using social media to identify themselves as victims of Sexual Harassment. Me too. Me too. Announcer within 24 hours, there have been many tweets on the internet and on twitter. I have been my life has been centered around justice. I have for the past probably 15 years been really focused on women and girls of color. During the work was when we realized that the girls we were working with were encountering Sexual Violence in various ways. Her history was with Sexual Violence. It had happened to her. It was repeated. She was telling her story. Me too. She was telling a story like mine. Similar to my life. I was scared. I did not know. I ended up sending her to another counselor who could handle what she had to say. Figure out how to get her out of the home or whatever but i did not tell her anything. I have over the years written letters. Apologizing because it just feels like the worst that you could do to someone as someone committed to young people. My partner and i decided when had to take a step back and figure out what to do. We were both survivors. So, me too came from this idea that we had to do this. So we started doing this work. Libraries, churches, schools, empowerment, empathy is the way that we describe. It is an exchange of empathy between survivors. I think when i became a mother and i had a daughter and i wanted her to live in a world that recognized her and saw her and the knowledge to her power. The kind of world i want her to live in. You can say you are not alone, youre not alone, youre not alone, as much as you want it what we have generated from this movement is special. [indiscernible] this is not about predators, it is not about individual people. It is like playing racquetball. After a while it is likely to this one, that when, oh my god i cannot believe this beloved person it is like there is a system in place that allows Sexual Violence to flourish and if we do not change our conversation to talk about patriarchy and privilege, we will have the wrong conversation. Announcer please welcome politico reporter rachel bade. Please welcome tarana bark, the founder of the me too campaign. [cheers and applause] oh wow. Oh, yall. [laughter] thank you. First off, thank you for being here and sharing your story today. I have been covering Sexual Harassment from a capitol hill standpoint ever since the Harvey Weinstein video. I was stunned that you founded me too way back in 2006 on a myspace page, ok . So, tell me, why do you think it took more than a decade for this to catch on and take us inside the day when that hashtag went totally viral. It has been more than a decade. People dont like to talk about this issue. People dont want to amplify these discussions. Those of us who work in Sexual Violence talk to each other, work hard, we are in our communities trying to amplify but it is not a popular issue. I thought it was worth working with black and brown girls in the south. You cannot get more marginalized and that really. So, it has had to have the light of popculture shine on it before people would pay attention. In some ways i am very grateful because now we have a National Conversation that we never had before. But i definitely did not foresee this when we started doing this work in 2006. There is no such thing as viral. I dont even think twitter was started yet. So that was not the vision. But we did have a vision to have something that people could connect to that was simple, that showed an exchange of empathy said that people really connected with each other, right . It is easy for people to say if they tell their story of any trauma, oh my god i am so sorry that happened to you. Although that persons wellmeaning and wants you to feel comfortable, there is sort of distance there between you and him. Them. It is something that happened to you, not me. The difference is when somebody shares something that is the most romantic thing that happened to them in at the end of that you can say, he yeah, me too. At least for the two of you, it it frees you. It is a liberation that you cannot trade for anything else in the world. There is no money that can help you have that feeling of having a connection with somebody that says, my god i am not alone. Im not crazy. I am not an anomaly. Im not some weirdo. This is a feeling that is real and genuine. Rachael take us into that day. Tarana sunday morning, picture it. I started having notifications on my phone. Not a lot, just a few going off. Friends at me a message to that, is something happening . What is happening on twitter. I said nothing in particular. She said, you need to go online. There are people talking about me too. I said ok. I had like, videos out. So when i went to look at twitter and was like, it was not viral yet but there were an awful lot of post. At first i kind of panicked. It was just like, this is weird. I did the work in a very specific way for a very specific audience and that was not the audience i was saying. And i also tackle Sexual Harassment in the workplace, and so i think by the Late Afternoon i was more panicked about the idea that there was massive disclosure happening in such a public way because while me too is obviously about people disclosing and telling their stories, i was worried about people not it is a very big deal. I think we lose the idea that social media is the world. Would you put it out there, it is in the world, right . I was like, what these people can and do . Does a wave of emotions that happened after you disclose of things so personal. I need to figure out how to insert myself in the conversation to give context. This not just words. As the declaration of disclosure that has impact, right . So i wanted to introduce that into the conversation and i was fortunate enough that these women who are, you know, i am a writer as well and there was a bunch of, you know, create a network of people or do social justice work over the last 2020 five years and they immediately and they know my work so they came and they said we need to amplify your work so people understand what this is about. Rachael speaking of disclosure, from my standpoint on the hill there is a fee or even now of coming forward that they would be blackballed, not be able get a job. Theres a sense that this has not reached washington politics. Why do you think that me to has not quite hit the political arena and the way it has had spread across the country. Tarana i think it hasnt hit a lot of arenas. We need to be clear, the attention is great. The media, the glitz, the glam, i could go on television and talk about a lot of things but my talking in front of you does not protect a woman right now who is at her job, fearful she could get fired from you know, her boss, whether it is capitol hill or mcdonalds. Like, people can us we would happen after this moment and i am like, this is a movement. Movements are built over time. They are strategic, methodical. For me, this moment is a triumph in the overall movement and i think we should celebrate the triumph and remember there is a lot of work that has to change. Policies, groundwork that has to happen. That is my commitment to the work. Like, i love being here, i love talking to people and getting the message out but i have like, a lot of work to do. And part of that is because it has not reached everywhere now that we have this sort of spotlight, think the very next thing we have to do is amplify this conversation and represent those people wherever they are. Rachael what would you say that me too has taught you about networks of women. Tarana listen, women. Lets talk about women. [laughter] tarana i love being a woman, i love being a black woman. We are always at the forefront regardless if there is a camera there are not. If there are other people paying attention, we are there doing the work. This woman moment would not happen without women, no question. We encourage the women who came forward. We encourage them women who have not come forward. When you are a survivor of Sexual Violence, the thing that happens is that your choices taken away, right . Youre right to choose, your ptolemy is taken away. The choices a choice. So even if you choose not to disclose, it is a choice. As a powerful choice people should not and hold onto. I get caught up with people say, i really want to but i am scared. I say, dont. Hold on to that choice. I think what this moment has done is given choice to women in ways that we have not seen in a long time, right . Having that our back to choose whether you disclose or dont, standup, dont, support, or dont. This is your choice. Rachael right. [applause] rachael were almost out of time but i want to talk to you about the young girl you talked about in the video who inspired all of this. You said you write letters to her in your head and i want to know, have you ever found her, has she ever reached out to you, have you reached out to her . Would she say to you, what would she say to you . Tarana i would like to say i have not found her. I ran that camp for almost 10 years. She only came that one summer. A couple things i realize in this moment, i was 22yearsold. And think about it i think of myself as an adult who is a child who did not help that child but i was 22, awfully young. I have a 20yearold daughter who, you know, is a baby to be. And so, what i would say to her, i would think i would apologize for not being who and what she needed me to be in that moment but she is probably about 34 years old now, target three years older 34 years old and i imagine life has probably given her some lessons, too, when you cannot show up when you want to. I would also like her to know that her at that moment helped me to be able to try to show up every time i get an opportunity to do so. Rachael you also spoke in this video about how Sexual Harassment requires systemic change. Well talk more about that on the next panel. Everybody give her a round of applause. [applause] announcer earlier this year, the House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel held a hearing looking at Sexual Misconduct at military academies. It included testimony from four young women who had experienced sexual abuse and harassment as cadets. It starts with Ranking Member Jackie Speier of california. You can watch the whole of this hearing at our website at cspan. Org. Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing. This is an issue that i care deeply about. Sexual assault in our military and military Service Academies is a scourge on our nation. We depend on our academies to develop and attract our nations future leaders. When Sexual Assault occurs against these people, even one is too many. We all know these assaults are far more than that. Both women and men are victimized by Sexual Assault and harassment at the Service Academies, creating atoxic culture that follows these students straight into military leadership. Survivors often leave the academy under their own volition or are forced out, depriving our military of future leaders. Perpetrators of these heinous acts often go unpunished, graduate, reinforcing this criminal and abhorrent behavior. This emboldens them to assault their fellow servicemembers as they ascend up the ranks. In order to break the cycle, we need strong reform to make clear that this behavior is not tolerated. In fact, the only result in cases like this should be dismissal. Military leadership for literally decades has testified that they are of one mind. That they have zero tolerance for Sexual Assault. The tens of thousands of survivors of these acts, subsequent retaliation, ineptitude of chain of command, makes a mockery of this stated policy. Words alone are just words. If we have any hope of stamping out the systemic issue of Sexual Assault in our ranks, the tone must be set at the academies. This is not just about right and wrong, but being able to attract the very best to serve and have cohesion within our fighting force. Nothing short of the future of our military depends upon us getting this right. The department of defense and the report on Sexual Assault on Service Academies show a complete failure in adjusting this epidemic. 12 of women in the academies experience Sexual Assault. 12 percent. And, nearly one half, one half, face persistent Sexual Harassment. Simply put, this is disgusting. Since the last report in 2014, fewer students have reported Sexual Assault and harassment by the estimated rates of Sexual Misconduct have increased. Both of these are trending in the wrong direction. One reason could be the ostracism of Sexual Assault victims. 47 of those who reported the unwanted sexual contact experienced social isolation and maltreatment. We want to foster an environment in which students who have been Sexual Assaulted or harassed feel like they can come forward without fear of retaliation. I would like to hear from our second Panel Witnesses on steps they are taken to reverse these Disturbing Trends so that we can bring about leaders who bring a culture of respect and dignity to their service. I want to welcome the courageous survivors for testifying on our first panel. The first attended the United States Naval Academy from 20092011. Another currently attends the u. S. Naval academy. And the others are former cadets at the u. S. Military academy at west point. Some of the stories you will hear today are heartbreaking and revolting. These cadets and midshipmen did nothing wrong by reporting their assaults and yet their chain of command failed them. And, the chain of command that was supposed to actually protect them failed. We cannot tolerate this lack of accountability in our countrys most prestigious military institutions. I look forward to hearing the testimony today and i yield back. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. Im here as an individual and not represent the views or opinions of the United States Naval Academy. In the Spring Semester of my freshman year i experienced unwanted sexual contact. I filed an unrestricted report about the incident. To the office. I was overwhelmed by the support everything i faculty and staff at the Naval Academy. In the fall of 2016, the individual is no longer a midshipmen at the United States Naval Academy. The whole process was difficult. But im confident in saying the resources that were and still are provided to me helped me through the healing process to the state. Thank you. Ms. Bullard. You are now recognized for five minutes. Hello. I am a former student of the United States military academy. I attended west point from 2013 until i was honorably discharged in 2015 when i went on to attend ohio state university. I would like to thank congresswoman spier for having me here. The day i was discharged from the hospital suffering from stress induced high Blood Pressure i found all my belongings had been packed without my knowledge. I was left with a pair of shorts, jacket, and sandals for my return home to indiana. I was escorted onto the plane by two mps because my id was shipped off of my belongings. As soon as i was boarded on the plane i was told the captain who was retaliating against me wanted to see me. He asked me if i wanted to return to the hotel. I replied i wanted to stay but was confused by what he meant as i had no money to pay for clothing. He hung up and took my answer is a no. But i landed i received a call from sue fulton on the board of visitors from west point asking why there was a note asking me if i wanted to stay to the i realize then why i received a convoluted call from the captain. If i had known, my answer wouldve been yes. Despite what happened to me, i would rather stayed then be forced out. I was recruited to be part of the swim team where i consistently experienced racial and Sexual Harassment. My exboyfriend who was caucasian was called jango django referring to the movie django unchained. Fully because he was in a relationship with me. I was told nicknames were a tradition on the mens team. In december, the swim team made lewd remarks about my body, how my bathing suit fit, and made remarks about having sex with me. I protested this treatment to my coaches and faced escalating reprisal as a result. A team is supposed to be a group of individuals with a set of skills required to complete the task. If were not able to swim together, how are we supposed to fight together to defend this country . The head coach further when on to punish me by forcing me to practice alone for two weeks before our biggest meet at the patriot league. The assistant coach decided to take it upon himself to make sure i was properly trained. I had to practice an hour before the rest of the team and was ostracize them because they thought i was getting special attention. I broke multiple records, resulting in winning a record. That day, we won, and the navy academy shook my hand and said to tell the captain the army won this time. I never know longer felt a part of the army team. I tried to prove a point that no one could bring me down. That day, they didnt. We are taught in basic and in the army and in general to always protector battle buddies. Never leave them behind. Why was i left behind . Opportunity office substantiated my case of racial discrimination. I also filed a report that was substantiated as harassment but not Sexual Harassment. I then became friends with cadet gross. During her second assault case, i was present when a drunk cadet burst into the room. As curfew rolled around, i had to return to my room thinking the cadet would take responsibility and they would move from. Grosst while later, can i called me and was hysterical. I went to her room and saw the distraught state she had bruises on her neck and chest. She told me she would never report again is no one would believe her. She had no faith she would be taken care. Still having trust in the system, i urged her to report. I told her we needed to do this for others after us. Even though i was left behind, i refused to do the same to her but the system failed once again as my friend and i were retaliated against repeatedly. I was forbidden to accompany her to the hospital and was forbidden to associate with her and forced to sign a confidentiality form saying i would not discuss her case with anyone. I was subjected to arbitrary discipline and made a whistleblower complaint. In january of i felt i had no 2015, option to but to resign. Although the processing of resignation normally takes a month or so, mine was expedited to one day. And to my detriment. I collapsed in the barracks. I was admitted from the hospital to the hospital suffering from high Blood Pressure from stress. When stephanie tried to visit me in the hospital, she was confronted by her command and told the only way she could remain in the hospital with me was if she admitted herself for psychiatric evaluation. The commands made clear out was being punished by being isolated in a time of fear and uncertainty. I wrote a Resignation Letter in january 2015 to general kaplan which all must read and sign. In the letter i write, i do not want to be in a place that allows perpetrators to remain in the ranks. I dont believe in double standards. West point honor code is by the cadets but some of the officers are not held to the same standards. I resign because it is all i can do, it is all i can do, to protect myself with these issues. I spoke with you before leaving the west point. And that threehour discussion you told me he believed i would be a great leader and as such of the army but you did not want to sign my resignation. You handed me my resignation and i asked if there are being each if there would be any changes if i stayed you remained silent. ,instead the numbers of reports , have doubled since i left was fine. Two years ago Congress Asked why were here and the answer was to help the academy and prevent what happened was to other cadets. After two years, were back here again and the answer to the question has still not change. I hope we can come up with a solution that will mend a system that needs fixed for the sake of our future cadets and officers. With the support of candidate spear, i would like to return to help other debts. I believe i can be an asset to other female cadets. I take general kaplan at his word when he said to me i could be a great leader and officer in the United States military. Thank you. Thank you miss bullard. Miss gross, you are recognized for five minutes. Thank you, sir. Hello. My name is stephanie gross, im a former cadet of the United States military at academy. I like to thank congresswoman spears office for extending the institution invitation to testify today. I still have a great love for west point. I respect and admire the Training Program at west point for our nation future leaders. I entered at 18 years old in 2016. I was honorably discharged on february 13, 2015. Over the two years, eight months, at being it was by no switch between companies four times compared to once for most at us. Because of this i had little stability of leadership during my time there and it contributed greatly to my difficulties. My first sexual result was assault was reported in the spring of my freshman year. I was in the hospital recovering from an emergency public surgery Pelvic Surgery that was found to be related to the assault. My surgeon advised me when he walked in he was unsure due to the inflammation of potential for scarring if i would ever be able to bear children. I later broke down to a nurse and my restrictive report was initiated. I felt reporting would cause further damage emotionally and i asked if it could remain restricted without investigation. It was later reported by my commander as he became aware. The next day, they pressured me for a name telling me that i would comply if i had duty and honor. I resisted. At this time in 2013, there was not yet special victims of attorneys and i was without legal counsel. I feel like my case wouldve stayed restricted as i desired and my difficulties in reportings would have been minimal. My report was determined to be unfounded. My second case was founded on the base of assault but the report concluded there was insufficient evidence to find the higher charges. The investigators refused to take my clothing for testing and refused to test my assailant of the night of the incident. The addition of the newly implemented special victims attorney was helpful in this case, though. In the months prior to my resignation i was subjected to , many negative personnel actions with a pattern that suggested reprisal. Every time would initiate a report, a few days later i would receive a punishment. From drug testing to mental evaluations, room inspections, and insubordination was pressed against me. I became desperate. This was damaging to me academically after missing many courses for the investigation and i began to feel i had no other option but to leave the academy. I decided to ask for open door meetings with my leaders, hoping i can speak to my advisors in smaller settings to ask for their mentorship and determine why my situation became so distorted. My entire chain of command denied me. I then asked Lieutenant General kaplan. I emailed you and desperation trust me to speak with you privately. You denied my request. I decided to add context to those grim blackandwhite words you chose to judge me by. Prepared by somebody else like those papers you have today. I wanted to tell you i was sorry for the mistakes i did make and i looked up to as a leader. Even with those mistakes, i did not deserve to be treated the way i was. I later found from a dod agent that you said you cared greatly for me as a cadet you instigated , the chain of command to protect me in anyway you could. Unfortunately, i never heard these things. From my perspective, each time i reported an action i received a , punishment. Suspicionsfirmed my i was not wanted at your institution. If i had thought my chain of command truly cared about me, i wouldve felt differently. It was the idea of the chain of command had given up on me that ultimately sealed my decision to leave the institution rather than serve my country. I do not blame west point. I blame the systematic leadership that blames an individual they had never spoken to. I believe that if the opendoor policy had been a reality and i , was allowed to tell my story, i may have been able to stay. A system of investigating assault that leaves great power in the hands of one individual motivatedindividuals by their own careers is not fair. After signing my oath, the first given to me was a Small Business card. Next written on the board was a soldiers creed i am an american , soldier. Im a loyal member of the team. I serve the members of the United States. I will always place the mission first, i will never quit. I will never leave a falling comrade. Later, i am disciplined and im a professional. These are the words that inspired me to continue even when i had nothing to gain and everything to lose. When i decided to report to help better the academy rather than following advice to keep my head down and not say anything. These are the reasons i would also like to return to the academy and complete my time there because i believe actions speak louder than words. Coming here and stating a problem does nothing to guarantee solution with no action. With the support of congresswoman spears office, ive decided to reapply for admission to the United States military academy to finish the education and training i began a in 2012. I truly believe the military and west point have made positive strides to fix this problem. And understands assaults occur on many College Campuses. The Service Academies specifically should be role models for the nation and the world. I was part of a group of four individuals who are friends who reported Sexual Assault but at at the academy. Out of the four of us, none remain. West point and all the Service Academies are the fundamentals for change for the future of the forces and there is much more work to be done. Thank you for your time. Thank you. You are recognized for five minutes. Good afternoon. In 2008, i was recruited athlete inducted into the United States Naval Academy. Prior to acceptance, my parents were concerned with my safety given the Sexual Assault scandal unfolding at another academy. During a campus visit, my parents and i were told by Naval Academy representative comment my coaches and the athletic including director that the Naval Academy did not have a Sexual Assault problem and i would be safe. Shortly after the Academic Year began, i experienced to horrible two horrible events. I was raped not only once, but twice. Both times my fellow classmates at the academy, i had to face them everyday. My emotional state began to deteriorate and i went i went to the Naval Academy medical facility. During intake, told the training physician i had been raped. They did not ask when, where, simply check the box on my intake form and prescribed me an antidepressant. These events set the tone for my remaining two years at the Naval Academy. The culture is that of a boysonly club where men are considered superior to women, women are repeatedly referred to as dubs, dumb ugly bitches. Or other derogatory terms which most women want to be accepted, say nothing, and adapt to the culture. After two years come i broke down and was sent to bethesda hospital. I spent three days there. I was diagnosed with bipolar personality disorder by a physicians assistant, not a licensed medical doctor. I thought that affect a get a transfer, that i would be ok. I made a request every semester to transfer to my Company Commander who refuse to transfer me. I felt my life slipping away. As a final effort, i requested captain robert clark. Upon discussing my situation with the commandant, he told me to grow up and within days begin the separation buses. Separation process. Academic2011, and review board was called which was unusual given my overall good academic record. Members of the board openly discussed my sensitive personal medical records, all of which without my consent and in the and, used my past medical treatments as a basis for my separation. The academy found it easier to label me as having a personality disorder than to treatment for treat me for the trauma of being raped. It seems leave no men behind does not apply to the men and women who are raped. Instead, they are frequently left behind to deal with the continued stress and anguish. The rapists career continues without consequence. The navy continues to defend the evergrown claims of military and Sexual Assault as small and that those men who reported those women who reported being raped were mentally ill. How shameful. Military leaders then and now defend the growth rate of being good saying they are glad to hear that women are coming forward to report rape. What they do not seem to get is that more rape is bad and they continue to not address the root cause. Theres a small but active group of rapists whose crimes are rarely investigated, let alone prosecuted. The military finds it easier to destroy the lives of the victims. The word is out, if you are rapist, go into the military where you will be protected after you wait somebody. Rape somebody. Victims who see the treatment of those before them such as myself are not likely to come forward like i did because they know what the consequences will be. Upon leaving the Naval Academy, all forms of treatment ended. I was on my own to fend for myself. Thanks to the support of my family i was able to get the treatment i needed which began with weaning me off the drugs prescribed to me by the military doctors. Drugs that created the very personality disorders i was exhibiting. After more than five years of detox i am off medications. Ptsd treatment, that was developed by a former green beret. I was denied the opportunity of completing my education at the academy, given i had one year remaining. I will never forget the day i had to return my class ring which represented the three years of hell i had to endure. All i wanted and asked for was to complete my education while getting proper treatment. And to serve my country as a naval officer. All of this was denied to me by my Naval Academy leadership. Thank you. Announcer up next, testimony from a former member of the air force who was raped and beaten by a noncommissioned officer. She describes her injuries following the assault and the lack of help from commanding officers. This was part of a hearing earlier this year by the Defense Advisory Committee investigating Sexual Assault in the armed forces. The committee was created in 2016 to advise the defense secretary in congress on the allegations of Sexual Misconduct. Good afternoon. I am retired senior hannah stolberg. I was a contracting specialist in the air force. In sorry, let me take a moment. Take all the time you want. Hanna thank you, maam. I was medically retired in may last year and i think what is shocking to some people is that i never even deployed. My scariest encounters were places like california, maryland with a population of i think seven people at the time. As well as Wrightpatterson Air Force base. I really did not do anything that was that intensive. I was reached back for contingency construction in san antonio, texas. In 2012, i was raped and beaten almost to death by an airman cfo. I spent almost two days out of consciousness on a concrete floor. It was over columbus day weekend. When i did not show up to work, no one even came to check on me. During the assault, my right shoulder was dislocated. My left heel was fractured. Damage was done to my spine. I did not find out for almost a year and a half that i had received a traumatic brain injury. When i reported this to my command to try to get help, i was put in my Commanders Office with my commander and my superintendent who is also an acting First Sergeant because we were a small squadron and told sometimes it was just better to just embrace the suck and it was conveyed that there would not be help from that front. My superintendent did not say anything but his silence was his agreement. He did not question what my commander said. He went along with it. This led to me it was very hard to suck it up. I did not find out my femur was fractured for months. Iran on it every time until it was almost shattered. Every time i went to the doctor, they told me i was running too much, and it wasnt until a major realized something was really wrong and send me for a bone scan that they realized the damage that had been done. On my commanders part, it was not handled well i would like to , point out that often times we dont give the necessary training to those in charge, in order to give them the tools to deal with someone in the situation. Im very humbled to let you all know that about two years after this happened, when a lot of the scandal was coming out of lackland, i remember our trainings on Sexual Assault increased, a lot more awareness was going on, and i was pulled to the side by that same acting First Sergeant, and he said we handled your situation wrong, what can i do to support you and fix it . I would like to point that out because, as Senior Master sergeant, he had no reason to stick up for me at that point, two years later, and put himself on the line, but he was willing to put his stripes and reputation on the line as senior airman, going through a medical board, and would be medically retired. I think that is important to talk about the character of someone who has so much humility to come back and address something that has been handled wrong. In the aspect of what happened with him, it was truly lack of training and even knowing how to deal with this sort of situation. He had never encountered it before. During my my Recovery Process was not very smooth. I spent time in patient at an intensive program for ptsd. There, i was in a unit with all military members. Both from combat and msp, and i met men and women from all branches who had experienced military Sexual Assault, military sexual trauma. It was resounding across the board, that the way the situations were being handled was not very well. I was pulled out of this program despite me saying i didnt think i was ready. The following day i was given an epr by my command, by my superintendent, my supervisor, they told me that although i may my peers,erformed because i was in patient and unable to work, the new system that came out, i would be docked to aid for, and there were not enough fives to go around. This was on my birthday. They took me to lunch, gave me a cake, had me sign my epr, and i went home and tried to commit suicide. Obviously it didnt work. I am still here. The saving graces i did not have access to a firearm at the time. I went home and i found every pill i could possibly take. The turning point for me was when i got involved with my branchs air force Wounded Warrior program. It was put out for all the branches to create their own armies, i am not really sure the other ones. I became involved in this program at the very end of my time on active duty. They wanted to take me to an Adaptive Sports camp. My command said i could go if i forfeit my 15 days of tdy upon requirement to go to this camp, and i said sure. It was at the beach. And i went. That was the turning point for me. I was taught that things i did not think i could overcome, i could. I used to run, believe it or not, despite my physique now. I used to run quite a bit and loved it. Not being able to run anymore was devastating to me. At that camp, they put me in a racing chair and for the first time in two years, i felt the wind fly past my here. Past my hair. Every sport they gave me from there on out helped me grow and helped me claim back some of that confidence. In the program, i was also linked up with the mentorship aspect of the program and was given a mentor who has been an incredible help to my recovery, as well. Finally, the aspect that has helped the most is the ambassador program, where i was taught to hopefully somewhat convey my story as i healed, and that is where the chief Master Sergeant heard me speak and ask me to attend. It was the support like this that helped me grow, and helped me recover. I think that is important to point out. The programs put in place can be very effective and helpful as long as there is not pushed back from command. I have spoken on several occasions, although not to this kind of room. I apologize for my nerves. I can remember the first time i heard someone speak about how they had been assaulted, and it made an impact on me because when youre in this position, you know others are out there, but there is such a stigma of shame surrounding it that no one speaks about it. You just know there are other people floating out there, and you never know who. I remember hearing someone speak on it, and i went up to him afterwards and i can remember saying, me, too. If you are a social media, you have probably seen the trend of people posting metoo. I did not realize these were the International Words for people. I have yet to speak anywhere, any crowd, and not be approached afterwards, usually in a hushed tone, and told me too. The impact of the people who have already been through a trauma and are recovering is something that cannot be ignored. When you know you have someone who has been in that same position, you find strength in it. I am still learning to find my voice. I hate public speaking. This is an uncomfortable subject. But, um, i remember being silenced and the pain and the absolute isolation it brings. Even if my voice is just a whisper right now, i am very humbled and thankful that you have listened to me. I am very humbled and thankful that you would take the steps to try to protect and enforce better laws so that in the future things like this hopefully wont happen as much. Thank you. Thank you. I do have one question for you, if you dont mind. How long was it before your attack until you were able to get to that program on the beach you found helpful . The program had a different, it is one of those words that is escaping me, one second. The program has different camps that to go around each region in the u. S. I did not go to my first one in first one until april 2016. My assault happened in 2012. Might any be started it is a good question. 2014 is when my neb started. It took a couple of years. Has beeny, that there strides made to catch people sooner as soon as they start the process. I am not sure about the other branches, but i know on the air force side they have had a huge uptick in enrollment because they have been able to catch people faster than at the end. I think if i could have gotten into a program like this sooner, i might not be quite in the state i am today. I think my recovery would have been faster and better, and not quite so rocky. But i have also seen that on the side of the way Sexual Assault is handled in general, at least on the air force side, i was saying earlier that i think if what i if what happened to me happened to me today in seventh today and not in 2012, it would be handled vastly different. I am very thankful that strides are being made to make the situation better and better. Did that adequately . Good to see you again. When you got out of the hospital and went back to the unit, how were you integrated back into the unit and what kind of jobs did they give you . It sort of depended. Ive had multiple surgeries. I have had two of my soul shoulders and two on my femur. And of course my inpatient stay. I like to say that when you treat someone like a monster, they become a monster. In general, when this news came out and they did not know what to do with me, they just sort of squirreled me away and gave me a random stuff to do. I took pride in my job, i was not going to win airmen of the year, but i was good at my job. I took pride in what i did. My work definitely suffered afterward. Part of it was undiagnosed ptsd, but part of it was the total lack of support and not really understanding how to go about getting help. I think it is important to still engage with your members, especially if they can still carry out the mission and task, to be reduced to almost nothing was one of the key factors in me attempting to take my own life. I had been stripped of my own dignity, of my job, my profession and my air force family. To be squirreled away, kept in secret, certainly did not help. From your perspective, i know what happened to you happened in 2012, but as you have seen as you have been speaking out and talking to people, where do you see the biggest need for improvement . I am devastated to say that at least half the people i talked to never reported anything. They are not going to be any going to be in your restrict in your statistics even in , your restricted report. They are silent. They have been silenced. I have talked to many people who have been in the same kind of situation i have aware they have reached out for help and they were silenced. I have even met people who were not the victim, but knew the victim and spoke out at and they almost lost their life because of it, and nothing was done. I have encountered as men in both men and women, the numbers are shocking, that either did not report at all or nothing really came of it. I understand it is difficult to prosecute at times, but a lot of times the way it is handled at the beginning could be the key between going to a trial or not. For me, when i was finally diagnosed with tbi, they said we could have done more for you if you had come 2448 hours after it happened. 2448 hours, i was still laying on the concrete floor with no one looking for me. One of the biggest disconnects is between leadership, and i dont think it is malicious, i think it is just a lack of training and ignorance to what to do in this situation. It is still so stigmatized that even commanders dont know what to do when you bring up the fact. First of all, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for your courage to be here in front of this committee and your courage since 2012. Part of the task of this committee is to look at the review process for cases that are investigated by the military. I dont know the background on the investigative process, if there was one, and what you what your perspective is on that process, in that case . There are different avenues you can take, as we all know. I took the avenue of reporting to my commander. When i was shut down and it was made known that they were not going to have my back, i ended up, after doing quite a bit of research and looking into just trends and how things go to trial, the percentage of people who are even prosecuted, and the percentage of action that is taken even from men, and to look at especially in the military, you would see it come out in the base letters all the time, someone drove drunk and they have been stripped of everything and kicked out of the air force, but someone assaults someone and they go in for like a month. They have reduced pay for nine months. Is that what my dignity was worth . Is that what my life is worth . And i see that from so many other people around me. For that reason, i chose to report restricted, knowing that i literally had no one to support me. I am very sorry. May i ask a question . Yes, maam. I join the others in thank thanking you for your courage. Did anything happen to the man who assaulted you or those higher up who did not do anything to help you . Nothing happened with the man who assaulted me. As for my commander, because i was having such a hard time at work, i was assigned to help put together his retirement ceremony. And he sat next to me as a civilian for a year and half. That is what happened to him. Is the air force at some point, did you unrestricted your report . I have not. I am just speaking. At this point, when i speak, especially to other wounded four Wounded Warriors who have been in fields more intense than mine, they tend to be, you did not have justice, lets bring justice, lets go get him. Someone told me yesterday, there are different kinds of justice. At this point, i am five years out. I have been through one heck of a Mental Health ride, and i am not exactly rocksolid, as you have probably noticed. For me, this is my justice, my justice is trying to be a voice for those who are still silenced speaking out against , this. Thank you for doing that. You are doing it very eloquently. Thank you, maam. Im glad you are speaking to us. I want to acknowledge that you have found your voice. I know you have places you want to go, but it is a beautiful, strong thing. Thank you. Thank you, maam. Thank you so much for coming and sharing your experience, it has been very moving for all of us. Thank you for having me. Announcer the final portion of our program on Sexual Harassment and abuse includes testimony by two former olympic gymnasts, who talked about abuse they experienced at the hands of u. S. Gymnastics team dr. Larry nassar. The Senate Judiciary Committee Held a hearing in late march. Chairman grassley, and distinguished members of this committee, i am honored to appear before you today. Thank you. I fell in love with gymnastics just before i was three years old when i saw Mary Lou Retton on tv. My parents were both competitive athletes growing up. Much aboutt know gymnastics despite watching it every four years in the summer olympics. I played tball, and i tried other sports, but i never stopped asking for my parents to let me take gymnastics. I wanted to be an olympian. I remember taking all of the cushions off of the couch to use as mats and i tried to teach myself flips. After arranging the furniture for years, my parents put me in gymnastics when i was about seven and a half years old. I loved it more than i thought it would. I loved to tumble and the parallel bars. I would try anything to be like the olympians on tv. I wore my hair like them, dressed like them and try to walk and stand like them. I practiced my olympics over and over. My parents had to beg me to leave the gym after practice every time, because i could not get enough of it. Gymnastics brought me so much joy as a little girl. When i was 11 years old, i started training as an elite gymnast in west covina, california. I needed to work with more experienced coaches. It was a sacrifice for my family because of the 90 minute drive each direction from home. Both my parents worked five to six days a week. I had six siblings also involved in sports. My coaches assured them it would be worth it because i have the talent to go really far. Financially, my parents did not know how they would make all of this work, but they decided to try, and hoped i would have the opportunity to get a College Scholarship one day. Gymnastics started becoming very intense at this point. I was training 2530 hours per week. Including two workouts per day in the summer. My coaches were very serious and even scary to me at times. They would yell at me. My body was always sore. I always seemed to be tired, but i was learning the skills i had only seen on tv. I thought that was what i needed to do to accomplish my dream. I made the Junior National team for the first time when i was just 12 years old. It was in palm springs, california. What i remember most about the competition is that competing at the same competition, where girls that i had only saw on tv. I was so excited. I made the usa National Team every year after that all the way up to the olympics. It was around that time i was then introduced to dr. Larry nassar. What i have only come to understand is that what he performed for my back injuries was Sexual Assault. He abuse me at the National Training center in texas. He abused me in california and all over the world. Times in my own room and in my own bed. He abused me in my hotel in sydney at the olympic games. When i first started talking about my abuse, i thought i was the only one. I was disbelieved and even criticized by some for bringing it to light. Now i know im not alone. More than 100 women have come forward and it shared stories that are shockingly similar to mine. Children often suffer their abuse in silence. They are taught to submit to the authority of adults. This is especially true in the hypercompetitive world of elite gymnastics. Women need to speak up and that is why i am here today. Usa gymnastics failed is most a of failed its most basic responsibility to protect athletes under its care. They failed to take action against coaches, trainers and other adults who abuse children and allowed dr. Nasser to abuse women and girls for more than 20 years. The federal law that governs our olympic programs should now specify the usa gymnastics should abide by stricter policies to prevent sexual abuse in order to maintain its certification. It is time the log reflects that lot reflects that usa gymnastics hice priority should be protecting their athletes from sexual abuse, and that exactly what they failed to prevent. I am more than grateful to this committee for inviting me to add my voice in supporting this important new legislation. It would require usa gymnastics and other sports organizations to report child abuse to Law Enforcement and provide ways to seek justice. Generations of Young Athletes will thank you for your leadership. And if so do i. Grassley,n distinguished members of the committee, thank you for inviting me to speak to you. The day i found my sport was the day i fell in love with it. The first few years of training were pure bliss. But to achieve my goal of becoming a worldclass athlete i , needed to switch to an elite coach. My first practice was so intense i spent the following two days vomiting and unable to return to practice. When i did return, the work began. By age 15, i was u. S. National champion, a position i held for three years. But the fear and intimidation that permeated my training sessions took a toll. By the time i reached World Championships in 1999, my hips hurt so badly at times i could barely walk. At those World Championships when i was just 15, i had a rough practice a few days before the competition. My coach called me into the room. She yelled at me so severely i sat perfectly still and my only movement was to pick the skin from my finger. Among other things, she told me i was an embarrassment to my country, family and her, and she never been so humiliated coaching someone as she was me and they would kick me off the team the next day if my practice was not better. At the and of the meeting, my finger was bloody and i wanted to jump out of the window. Usa gymnastics suggested i go see dr. Larry nassar, renowned for his work with the gymnastics team, to help with my hip pain. Parents did not go to the ranch. I went by myself. I was thankful to have a few days away from my coach. I dont remember an adult taking responsibility for me, and the first time i met dr. Nasser, i trusted him. He was the premier gymnastics doctor and i felt lucky to be invited to work with him. For our first apartment, yes me he asked me to wear loose shorts and no underwear. That seemed strange, but i obeyed. I wanted to be perfect. He began to massage my legs and moved inward on my thighs. He massaged his way into me. I was rigid and uncomfortable but did not realize what was happening. I was confused and thought it was what had to happen. This scenario happened repeatedly while i was at the ranch. At no time was there never another adult in the room. Coming off a year of difficult training, dr. Nasser acted as a good guy, promising me relief from the pain. Now i know he expertly abuse me under the guise of treatment. I trusted usa gymnastics, but i was sexually abused, as were so many other athletes. More than 100 young women and girls have come forward to accuse dr. Nasser of Sexual Assault, and the abuse is not limited to him. According to more than 5000 pages released to the indy star on march 3 after a link the Lengthy Court battle, some of the 64 coaches with abuse charges were not banned until years after usa gymnastics discovered they were accused of crimes against children. As an adult, i spent years serving on the gymnastics board of directors with the goal of protecting children. The meetings seemed to revolve around two things, money and medals. When the sexual abuse case came up during my time of the board, the concern was about the reputation of the coach, not the accusation of the athlete. I have attempted to come to terms with what happened to me as a teenager it has become , glaringly obvious usa gymnastics has not done really enough to protect athletes from any form of abuse. To show they are serious about making institution wide changes that will create a safe environment for athletes, usa gymnastics must be accountable and required by law to adopt a zerotolerance policy regarding abuse. Accusations of child abuse must be reported to the Law Enforcement authorities immediately. It took five weeks for usa gymnastics to report dr. Nasser suspicions were raised, only after conducting an internal investigation. Protecting all children in sports is of paramount importance. That is why this bill is so vital because it requires reporting allegations of sexual abuse and makes it easier for victims to report. This legislation will also help victims by extending the statute of limitations giving athletes who were abused as children an opportunity to seek justice when they have a better understanding of what happened to them. There is nothing more motivating and powerful than an olympic dream, but there is a long life to live after a gymnastics career. My post gymnastics life has been fraught with issues from the abuse i endured as a teenager. Ofshould be the priority those in power to make sure that an athletes post sport life is not spent dealing with a crippling effect of abuse. Thank you for your efforts to protect vulnerable Young Athletes. The house and senate are on break this week. There is a session in the house this afternoon at 4 30 eastern. No legislative business schedule. Looking ahead, the senate convenes on january 3 and the house will come back a few days later on january 8. On the agenda when they return, government spending. Current funding expires on january 19. Tonight on cspan, new york city bill de blasio at a holiday dinner in des moines hosted by the Group Progress iowa. He talks about changes taking place across the Political Landscape and what he calls the beginning of a progressive era. There is a phrase that should define what all of us as progressives and democrats do in 2018, a powerful and simple idea. Fortune favors the bold. We have to be uncompromising. We have to be strong. Party ofwe are the working people. We believe in the labor movement. We have to say it does plainly as that. [applause] we believe that those who have done very well often with all sorts of Government Policies helping them to do very, very well, should pay their fair share in taxes. [applause] we believe the Public Education is the fountain of democracy and fairness in america. [applause] so, if that is who we are, people will feel it and they will hear it. To fall intot need the trap that unfortunately too Many Democrats fell into in washington, d. C. Too many people decided that you could only run a Good Campaign if you have a lot of money and if you needed the money, you have to savor favor the donors and you have to homogenize your message and take away all the rough edges and get them out of there and not do anything that might offend a certain people. Guess what we ended up doing is a party . Desiccated. Our meaning was lost. The donors gave money, and sure, the party came up with something that seemed, may, kind of like a message, and we lost. We were so desirous of the money that we created a vision and a message we could not win with. That is what happened for years in years. And years. I dont want the money of the money will stand between us and the people. [applause] more of new york city mayor bill de blasio tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on cspan. Coming up tonight on cspan two, book tv is in prime time focusing on business and economics. Including Nobel Peace Prize Winning Economist on his book a world of three zeros. Tvcspan3, American History in primetime with a look at the cold war, including discussions about the u. S. Army special forces in berlin and from the era, including a 1962 film, the road to the wall. American history tv and primetime beginning at 8 00 eastern. The Shakespeare Theatre company in washington dc presented a mock trial based on 12th night. A panel of federal judges heard oral arguments i attorneys representing olivia and sebastian. As to whether their marriage should be an old representing among the judges was married garland, former Supreme Court nominee and chief judge of the