Rape-Nuts

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

You may have seen a recent segment of The Daily Show captioned "Rape-Nuts," pertaining to Sen. Al Franken's amendment to a defense appropriation bill banning the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts which bar employees from suing their employer for civil damages, even in cases of criminal misconduct of rape and sexual assault. (There is a split among the circuit courts of appeal regarding the enforceability of these mandatory arbitration agreements. I believe they are one-sided contracts of adhesion that are unenforceable as a matter of public policy. Several courts agree.)

The satirical segment by The Daily Show does not do this story justice or treat it with the seriousness which this topic deserves. Susie Madrak of Crooksandliars.com wrote this post Sen. Al Franken Stands Up to Support KBR Rape Victim and Others Like Her:

Rookie Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) passed an amendment to a defense bill this week that would withhold government contracts from organizations like KBR if they restrict employees from taking rape and sexual assault cases to court.

Thirty Republican senators voted against Al Franken's amendment, thus showing their support for gang rape by government contractors. And may I say, I'm not surprised:

In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Franken said:

The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law … And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court. … The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spoke against the amendment, calling it “a political attack directed at Halliburton.” Franken responded, “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would defund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.”

In the end, Franken won the debate. His amendment passed by a 68-30 vote, earning the support of 10 Republican senators including that of newly-minted Florida Sen. George LeMieux. “He did what a senator should do, which was he was working it,” LeMieux said in praise of Franken. “He was working for his amendment.”

Appearing with Franken after the vote, an elated Jones expressed her deep appreciation. “It means the world to me,” she said of the amendment’s passage. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”

The 30 Republican Senators who voted for Halliburton/KBR's right to bar their employees from suing them for civil damages, even in cases of criminal misconduct of rape and sexual assault, included Arizona's twin embarrassments, Sens. Jon Kyl and John MCain. Be sure to call and write their Senate office to give them a piece of your mind.

As The Daily Show pointed out, Republican Senators sought to attach unrelated amendments to the defense appropriation bill banning federal funds from being spent on the community organization group ACORN.

Apparently Senate Republicans are not the least bit concerned with Halliburton/KBR's combat zone contract fraud KBR Connected to Alleged Fraud, Pentagon Auditor Says, $402 million criminal fine for bribery KBR Pleads Guilty to foreign Bribery Charges and Agree to Pay $02 Million Criminal Fine, $80 million in bonuses paid to Halliburton/KBR for faulty work that resulted in the electrocution deaths of American soldiers KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers, and on and on. See Halliburton Watch.

If there is a Pentagon contractor deserving of the "death penalty" – dissolution of the corporation and liquidation of its assets – it it Halliburton/KBR. They should be banned from receiving any government contracts as a result of regular and admitted (pleading guilty to criminal fines) criminal misconduct.