Senate Amendment 2588 Passed, but without flying colors?
By: Aaron M. Norcia
As Senator Al Frankin's first proposed Amendment he chose what most beleive should have been a "Gimme" ammendment. An ammendment brought about in response to an incident in which a woman by the name of Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of Halliburton/KBR was viciously assaulted, gang raped, and sexually harassed by her co-workers while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq. When she reported the incident to her employers, she was confined immediately in a shipping container and prevented from having any contact with her family. It wasn't until 2 agents came to her rescue from the US Embassy and brought her home. When Jamie later tried to sue Haliburton/KBR for the gang rape and torture she endured she was told that according to her employment contract she was required to attend a process know as "binding arbitration" rather then face her attackers and those responsible in a court of law.
In a "binding arbitration" hearing there are no public records or transcripts produced and instead of having a judge and jury hear her plea's for justice it would be left to the decision of an "arbitration officer". In most cases these officers are hired privately by the company attempting to be held accountable. In recent testimony before Congress, employment lawyer Cathy Ventrell-Monsees said that Halliburton won more than 80 percent of arbitration proceedings brought against it.
Under these mandatory arbitration techniques, employee's civil rights are grossly violated and those responsible often escape public prosecution and accountability. Basically these trials are held in private and operated in secrecy to all but eliminate the accountability of those responsible.
When Senator Frankin introduced SA 2588, he along with most his fellow Senators figured this was a clear violation of a person civil rights and a negligent allowance of private deception and would easily gain bi-partisan support. Well he was wrong. As disgusting as this incident sounds, and as agregious as this behavior has seemed, there's actually some Republican Senators that don't agree with that at all. As a matter of fact, of the 100 Senators in Congress, 68 Democrats voted to stop funding any companies who practice arbitration. Yet across the aisle 38 Republican Senators voted to continue to strip American citizens of their rights and allow this inane display of barbaric discourse to continue. Of the Senators who voted on this ammendment were as follows.
YEAs ---68
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagan (D-NC)
Harkin (D-IA)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
LeMieux (R-FL)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---30
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Not Voting - 2
Byrd (D-WV)
Specter (D-PA)
In seeing this disgusting and blatant support of arbitration and the dodging of justice it permits, I'm forced to wonder why? Has it truly reached such a partisan divide that no matter how sound an issue. No matter how important a cause. That the right will under no circumstance vote in favor of a Democrat proposed amendment? As I'm sitting here, still in shock, embarrased that these people represent my country I can't help but think of that woman. Alone in a storage container. Hurt. Both physically and mentally and yet here we have elected officials put in charge of minding the best interest of the constituents in which they represent and they can't seem to get past thier 13 year old childish mentality? What is it going to take for the conservative base to wake up? Or is it that they honestly believe that a womans place is on her back or in the kitchen? It's seeming more and more like that every day.
I have contacted both Republican Senators McCain and Kyl who represent my state and asked for a comment. When I get a response I'll post it on here.
Aaron M. Norcia
October 25
| This Day in History |
 
1415: During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, King Henry V of England leads his forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt.
1810: King George III celebrates his 50th anniversary as monarch of Great Britain.
1854: Lord James Cardigan leads a charge of light cavalry against Russian artillery at Balaklava during the Crimean War. The "Charge of the Light Brigade" was immortalized in a poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
1929: Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall is found guilty of accepting a bribe; he is the first cabinet member to be convicted of a crime committed while in office.
1960: The Accutron, the world's first electronic wristwatch, goes on sale.
1971: The People's Republic of China joins the United Nations, replacing the nationalist government of Taiwan.
1983: U.S. troops, along with forces from seven other Caribbean nations, invade Grenada one week after the murder of the country's leader, Maurice Bishop. |
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Who am I? Born on this day in 1888, I led several expeditions to Antarctica. 
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The symbol of Scorpio is the scorpion. Scorpios are thought to be energetic and passionate leaders; they can be stubborn or jealous. They are sensitive and observant, and enjoy pushing themselves and others to the limit.
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