Written by: Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel

U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Lois Frankel filed legislation Thursday to require sexual harassment cases involving their colleagues and staffers to automatically go to a congressional ethics committee.

They said in a statement they want to “help lift the shroud of secrecy cloaking settlements, and to ensure a more accountable culture in Congress.”

Under the Me Too Congressional Ethics Act, unwanted and improper sexual behavior that generates an official action — such as a legal settlement — could result in sanctions by the ethics committee of the House or Senate. Use of the social media hashtag #MeToo has exploded since October, when sexual misconduct allegations were revealed involving Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and many women followed with their stories of abuse.

“The current process for handling sexual harassment cases in Congress too often protects the perpetrators while leaving the victims exposed,” Wasserman Schultz said in a statement.

“In sexual harassment cases where a settlement is reached or wrongdoing is found, the Ethics Committee should immediately initiate an investigation,” she said. “The congressional culture surrounding sexual harassment must change immediately — and it must be much more transparent and accountable.”

Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties, is the lead sponsor of the legislation.

Frankel, who represents Palm Beach County and is chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Working Group, said in a statement that the #MeToo movement has “exposed the toxic nature of sexual harassment.

“Members of Congress who breach the trust of their office by violating civil rights law, including acts of sexual abuse, should be held accountable both to the victim and the institution. This legislation assures swiftness and fairness in responding to an ugly chapter in the history of Congress,” Frankel said.

U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, a Democrat who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, would be in a position to help adjudicate such cases involving members of the House of Representatives or its staffers. He’s the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee, and is in line to become the panel’s chairman if the Democrats win control of the House in 2018.

Frankel, in an interview before the legislation was introduced, said Deutch “is as good as you get” for such a role.

“He has incredible integrity. He’s very even tempered. And I think he’s got a passion for justice,” Frankel said.