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As Rachel reports, it looks like the vote taken by 30 Republicans to protect contractors rather than rape victims is not playing very well for them in their local papers.

Jamie Leigh Jones and her attorney joined Rachel to talk about what happened to her and weigh in on the Republican response that the amendment was just a way to take a "political shot" at Halliburton.

MADDOW: One specific vote on one specific part of the giant legislation that funds the Defense Department is turning into a real political problem for 30 Republican senators.

In Idaho, the "Lewiston Morning Tribune" called out its two senators in an editorial titled, "Senators Crapo and Risch Cast an Inexplicable Vote."

In Mississippi, "The Clarion Ledger" editorialized, quote, "Senators Cochran and Wicker voted to protect corporations, not victims, and they should own up to that."

An opinion piece in the "Osawatomie Graphic" was titled simply, "Kansas Senators are Disappointing." In Tennessee, a "Crossville Chronicle" writers asked, "Whose Side are Our Senators On?"

The "Athens Banner Herald" in Georgia headlined a letter quote, "Georgia Senators Embarrass State." And in Louisiana, a "Shreveport Times" writer asks, quote, "What exactly is Sen. David Vitter problem with women."

When Republicans are getting called out in Mississippi, Kansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Georgia, something big is going on politically. This all began when 30 Senate Republicans voted against an amendment by Democratic Senator Al Franken of Minnesota.

The amendment said that the government shouldn't give defense contracts to companies if those companies prevent their employees who have been raped or discriminated against from suing in court.

Franken's amendment passed, but 30 male Republican senators voted no on it. Now, much of the outraged response to that vote across the country is due to the fact that this legislation was prompted by a horrible real-life case, the case of Jamie Leigh Jones.

Continue reading »

This is why I love Al Franken. I had no doubt he'd be a fantastic Senator and he's yet to disappoint.

h/t Brainwrap at Daily KOS: Al Franken DESTROYS KBR attorney. Go over and read the entire diary.

h/t syndalis

In 2009, the Senate voted to not fund companies which force their employees to forfeit their rights to sue for sexual assault or harassment.

Thirty Senators voted against this amendment. All of them republican.

These men are not voting for your rights.

Why should you vote for them?

And here's Al again, standing up for Jamie Leigh Jones and those like her.

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(h/t CSPANJunkie)

Rookie Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) passed an amendment to a defense bill this week that would withhold government contracts from organizations like KBR if they restrict employees from taking rape and sexual assault cases to court.

Thirty Republican senators voted against Al Franken's amendment, thus showing their support for gang rape by government contractors. And may I say, I'm not surprised:

In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and “warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job.” (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday, Franken said:

The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law … And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts do deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court. … The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.

On the Senate floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) spoke against the amendment, calling it “a political attack directed at Halliburton.” Franken responded, “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would defund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.”

In the end, Franken won the debate. His amendment passed by a 68-30 vote, earning the support of 10 Republican senators including that of newly-minted Florida Sen. George LeMieux. “He did what a senator should do, which was he was working it,” LeMieux said in praise of Franken. “He was working for his amendment.”

Appearing with Franken after the vote, an elated Jones expressed her deep appreciation. “It means the world to me,” she said of the amendment’s passage. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”

We covered the story of Jamie Leigh Jones' alleged kidnapping and gang rape at the hands of Halliburton/KBR employees back in 2007. Jones claims that while she was working for the company in Iraq, she was held against her will in a shipping container and repeatedly raped by multiple co-workers. To make matters worse, after finally being released and examined by doctors, her rape kit (which proved she had been raped) disappeared and a cover up by both Halliburton and the Bush administration ensued.

I predicted back then that Jones would never get her day in court -- I'm happy to report that I was wrong:

A federal appeals court says a Texas woman's lawsuit alleging she was raped by U.S. military contractor co-workers in Iraq can go to court.

A three-judge panel from the New Orleans court ruled Tuesday that Jamie Leigh Jones' claims against Halliburton Co. and its former subsidiary KBR can go to trial.

The companies contended Jones' employment agreement required claims against the company be settled through arbitration. Read on...