Story highlights Jackie Speier wants new rules to alter how Congress addresses sexual misconduct

She says, 'This is a problem nationally, and certainly Congress is not immune to it'

(CNN) Calling Congress a "breeding ground for a hostile work environment," Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier came forward Friday, for the first time discussing with the public in vivid details her allegations of sexual harassment and assault she experienced as a young congressional staffer.

"A chief of staff held my face, kissed me, stuck his tongue in my mouth," the California Democrat said in a video posted to her YouTube page, with the hashtag "#MeTooCongress." "I know what it's like to keep these things hidden deep inside."

In the video, Speier describes the alleged assailant as a powerful staffer, who at the time was nearly 30 years her elder, in the office of a Democratic congressman from California. She said she felt "humiliation and anger."

In a phone interview with CNN, Speier said she went public with something she has hidden for over 40 years, because she believes sexual misconduct is still a "rampant" problem in the culture of Capitol Hill.

"This is a problem nationally, and certainly Congress is not immune to it," Speier said, noting the national conversation taking place in the wake of several high-profile sexual harassment cases. "The flood gates are open, we have reached a tipping point."

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