"Everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable at work, and the passage of this official Senate policy is an important measure to ensure that’s the case in these halls," Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a lead sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement. | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo Senate passes measure requiring sexual harassment training for senators, aides

The Senate unanimously approved legislation late Thursday that institutes mandatory sexual harassment training for senators and aides — a potentially meaningful shift amid calls for overhauling Capitol Hill's system for handling harassment complaints.

Bipartisan talks on a plan to require sexual harassment training, as first reported by POLITICO, began as current and former female lawmakers and aides publicly shared their stories of sexual harassment on the job in Congress. Awareness of workplace harassment on the Hill is spiking as sexual assault allegations shake the Hollywood establishment and Republicans grappled Thursday with a report that Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore initiated a sexual encounter with a minor while in his 30s.


The legislation approved Thursday, co-sponsored by both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), would require harassment training that also covers discrimination based on race, religion, disability and other criteria.

“Sexual and workplace harassment is a widespread problem that affects too many women and men in too many places, professions, and industries," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a lead sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement. "Everyone deserves to feel safe and comfortable at work, and the passage of this official Senate policy is an important measure to ensure that’s the case in these halls.”

One of the measure's co-sponsors, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), said Wednesday that senators also discussed changing the current guidelines for handling Hill harassment complaints, but the version that ultimately passed did not go beyond requiring training that is now voluntary.

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More than 1,000 former congressional aides from the two parties have lent their voices to call for a bigger shakeup of the current protocol for handling congressional harassment cases, which requires victims to undergo mandatory counseling and mediation before filing a complaint.