Dear Mr. President and Mr. Speaker:
Under section 102(b)(2) of the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), the Board of Directors of the Office of Compliance is required to issue a report every 2 years that describes: (1) to what degree provisions of Federal law (including regulations) relating to the terms and conditions of employment and access to public services and accommodations are applicable or inapplicable to the legislative branch, and (2) whether the inapplicable provisions should be made applicable to the legislative branch. This section of the CAA also requires that the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate cause our report to be printed in the Congressional Record and refer the report to committees of the House and Senate with jurisdiction.
In each report for the past 20 years, we provided Congress with a thorough analysis of the laws and regulations that are applicable and inapplicable to the legislative branch and our recommendations regarding what inapplicable provisions should be made applicable to the legislative branch. In our most recent report dated December 2016, one of the recommendations, which we have made almost every 2 years since December 31, 1996, is to make antidiscrimination and anti-harassment training mandatory, as it is in the executive branch. Given the recent public interest in how Congress handles sexual harassment issues, we urge Congress to seriously consider this proposal.
As required by the CAA, we respectfully request that the presiding officers of the House and the Senate refer our most recent section 102(b)(2) report to the committees of the House and the Senate with jurisdiction so that our recommendations may be duly considered. As always, our staff is fully prepared to assist these committees by providing any needed information.
Thank you for the opportunity to assist Congress with these very important issues.
Very respectfully yours,
Barbara Childs Wallace, Chair
Barbara L. Camens
Susan S. Robfogel
Roberta L. Holzwarth
Alan V. Friedman
