Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Advancing Legislation To End Forced Arbitration For Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment As Soon As This Week

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding his intention to move as soon as this week to pass bipartisan legislation to end forced arbitration for sexual assault and sexual harassment. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Later today, the House is expected to pass bipartisan legislation to end forced arbitration for sexual assault and sexual harassment. Once this important bill passes the House, the Senate will move as soon as this week, to quickly take up this bill and send it to President Biden’s desk.

Congress can finally act to empower victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment to speak openly, by nullifying forced arbitration clauses that push survivors into an often secret and biased process. We will not waste this historic opportunity.

There are numerous good proposals that we can address here in the Senate on a bipartisan basis, and this is one good example. We hope to do more. The Senate’s forced arbitration proposal—the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021—passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee, every Democrat and every Republican voting for it.

I expect there will be strong bipartisan support for it on the Senate floor.

And I want to thank my colleague Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as Senator Lindsey Graham, for their leadership on this important legislation.

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