An amendment proposed by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., caught the attention of “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart. The amendment would protect defense contractor employees’ right to sue their employers.
The amendment was created following the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, who was raped by a group of coworkers at Halliburton/KBR, a government contractor. She was then locked in a crate to prevent her from seeking help. Since her contract with the company required her to take her case to arbitration she was not allowed to sue her employer.
Yet, this Franken amendment wasn’t as much of an obvious “slam dunk” as it seemed to Stewart. The amendment passed with 30 votes against it, causing Stewart to ask, “I understand we’re a divided country, some disagreements on health care. How is anyone against this?”
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Rape-Nuts | ||||
| www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
|
||||
If the subject were not so somber, Stewart would really be funny on this one.
Of course, it should be the job of government to decide how it wants its contractors to do business. That’s why there is a contract. But that 30 United States Senators wish to protect Halliburton and others of that ilk from being responsible when their employees commit rape against other employee[s] seems amazingly hard to believe.
I don’t know who all 30 are. They are all Republicans, but are they all men?