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sen. david vitter confronted by local rape victim
Published Nov. 3, 2009Views: 1108
Excerpts By Patricia Murphy
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) had a heated exchange with a constituent over the weekend when she asked him why he opposed a bill that will protect the rights of some rape victims to take their attackers to court.
The bill stems from a 2007 case in which a Halliburton employee accused several co-workers of raping her when she was working for the company in Iraq. Her employment contract specifically required her to settle her complaint in arbitration rather than in criminal court. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) sponsored an amendment to the defense spending bill to block federal funding from government contractors with similar employment contracts. Vitter joined 29 Republicans in opposing the measure, which passed the Senate 68 to 30 in October. Republicans at the time said it would give Congress too much influence over Pentagon contracts.
At the weekend event, a woman, who has not been named in the media, approached Vitter after a health care town hall event that the senator sponsored in Baton Rouge. A video of the encounter shows her speaking to the senator as he is leaving, saying, "Senator, I am a rape victim."
Vitter stops briefly to speak with her, but the two begin to speak over each other once the discussion turns to the Franken amendment.
Eventually Vitter says, "You realize President Obama was against that amendment and his administration was against that amendment?"
She responds, "But I'm not asking Obama. I'm asking you."
"Do you think he's in favor in rape?" Vitter asks rhetorically. "No." He then walks away and leaves the building.
As he walks away, the woman calls out, "What if it was your daughter?"
Sen. Vitter's office did not respond to requests for comment on the event, but the senator did speak with a local television station at the town hall, which he said was organized so that he could hear from his constituents about their concerns. "I think people's biggest frustration is that they think they're being shut out of the debate and they just aren't heard in Washington," Vitter told WBRZ-TV.
You should be able to see the exchange here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6YZ1wP1978&feature=player_embedded
Filed under: News & Issues
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That's a travesty, and anyone who can't see it is either a moron or is in someone else's pockets.
In my opinion, Halliburton should be sued by the woman for sheltering these animals, Arbitration Contract be d4mned.
And furthermore, Halliburton is treading a very dangerous rope doing this. If they don't mend this now, soon they'll be finding themselves with larger crimes to arbitrate, like murder.
God bless.
RB
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
November 3, 2009 7:54 p.m.
Actually its the last 3 elections. Thats one nasty contract. If you get murdered, do you have to settle through arbitration also?
November 3, 2009 7:18 p.m.
This is not about a wage or job task issue, it is an assault issue.
November 3, 2009 7:10 p.m.
...........
This is the root cause. Until we have term limit, WE, PEOPLE have to keep on voting out incumbents !!!
November 3, 2009 5:40 p.m.
GOLO member since July 26, 2007
November 3, 2009 5:07 p.m.
Does anyone know the actual language of the employment contract, or are we just speculating here?
As far as I know, employment contracts are not sacrosanct. Courts can, and I believe have, deemed some provisions to be unenforceable in the past. If I were a politician, I don't think I would want to defend an employer's "right" to prevent an employee from facing her rapist in court.
You can wrap it in all the legalese in the world, but it will still stink.
GOLO member since January 25, 2008
November 3, 2009 5:07 p.m.
And yes... the ignorant voters that elected all those Republican presidents in the last 50 years keep voting.
November 3, 2009 4:48 p.m.
November 3, 2009 4:43 p.m.
GOLO member since October 18, 2007
November 3, 2009 4:42 p.m.
GOLO member since December 21, 2007
November 3, 2009 4:11 p.m.
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