Florida NOW

Statement by NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) has announced that his House Oversight Committee has opened an investigation into the Trump Administration’s employment of Rob Porter, seeking to discover when the FBI told the White House about the allegations of domestic violence against him. That’s not nearly good enough. We already know the answer to that question.

The Oversight Committee is being incredibly short-sighted and protectionist when it comes to this White House.The staff at the FBI is not the problem. The staff at the White House is the problem. We need to know more about John Kelly’s and Don McGahn’s roles in covering up for Rob Porter and perpetuating a culture of enabling abusive men—starting with the mysoginist-in-chief in the Oval Office. Chairman Gowdy, call John Kelly and Don McGahn before your committee. Ask them why their first inclination is to believe and condone abusers, and not the women they’ve abused.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

In public, Donald Trump has nothing but praise for Rob Porter, calling him “wonderful,” “strong” and “innocent.” This is Donald Trump’s pattern. From Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly to Roy Moore and Mike Tyson, Trump ignores the accuser and portrays the accused as the real victim.

Donald Trump needs to know the consequences of his words and actions. Women and men around the nation who are in the throes of relationship violence cannot/must not be ignored or demeaned by anyone, and certainly not by the President of the United States. He has inexcusably defended the batterers and questioned the veracity of the victims in order to cater to his base. Polls show that even women in his “base” have just about had it with his disdain and misogyny. The elections this November will send the message.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline estimates that one in three women are abused in their lifetimes. We know that intimate partner violence can be a precursor to acts of murderous rage—the Boston Marathon bomber, the Pulse nightclub shooter, and the Sutherland Springs shooter all had histories of relationship violence.

Donald Trump’s White House is riven by a cover-up culture of men protecting men and disbelieving women. At least 19 women have come forward accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, but the White House calls their accounts “false claims” and Kellyanne Conway said over the weekend they have “had their day.” In essence, “He won, you lost, so shut up.”

NOW supports Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s call for Congressional hearings to give Donald Trump’s accusers the “due process” Trump claims to uphold. What’s more, we need to hold the enabler-in-chief accountable for an upside-down culture where women who unmask sexual predators and perpetrators of domestic violence see their careers ruined, their livelihood threatened and their health compromised, while men get huge paydays for leaving the spotlight.

Furthermore, NOW renews our call for John Kelly to resign or be fired as Chief of Staff. And instead of appointing a crony like Mick Mulvaney or Chris Christie to replace him, NOW proposes that a strong, capable woman with a record that includes standing up for victims of domestic violence and abuse be selected to replace him.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241

Statement of NOW President Toni Van Pelt:

Nevertheless, we are persisting: families must have guaranteed paid leave.

This week we celebrate the success of the Family and Medical Leave Act that was signed into law by Bill Clinton as one of his first official acts after becoming president. NOW activists were thrilled to see this long-sought national policy become a reality. Prior to this, President George H.W. Bush had refused to sign the legislation which required companies with 50 or more employees to allow up to 12 weeks annually of job-protected parental leave for birth or adoption of a child or for attending to family needs, such as caring for an ill relative.

Unfortunately, the new law did not require companies to provide compensation to the employee while on leave – something NOW leaders had strongly advocated. Surveys taken since then show the FMLA to be a popular option, but most admit that their families cannot forego regular pay.

We know that the costs to employees, their families and the economy are great because of the lack of paid family and medical leave: of the 200 million times that the FMLA has been used, $500 billion is lost to the economy due to women’s reduced labor force participation; that more than $300,000 in wages and retirement income is lost when an older person leaves the workforce to care for a parent; and, that four times as many workers leave their employers when paid leave is not provided.

This astounding fact remains: the United States is the only industrialized country in the world that does not require paid family leave. A handful of states like California, New Jersey and Rhode Island offer paid family leave through employee-paid payroll taxes – an approach that many countries take to assure that parents can receive at least partial pay during family leave. Financing a universal system of paid leave should be based on a broad social insurance plan of employer-employee contributions such as the U.S. has for retirement and disability. Certainly, paid leave – which Donald Trump said he supports – should not be paid for by cutting future retirement benefits, as is rumored to be in the works.

The time is way past due for the richest nation in the world to assure that families survive economically during family leave and that women – who carry major caregiving responsibilities – do not suffer financially. Paid family and medical leave is clearly a gender equality matter and NOW will persist in this effort until the U.S. decides to join the 21st century.

Contact

Emily Imhoff, press@now.org, 951-547-1241