WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) urged the Louisiana Legislature today to address a glaring oversight that guts a bill that is supposed to prohibit the use of nondisclosure agreements in sexual harassment allegations against public employees.

The governor’s executive counsel acknowledged this week that House Bill 197 still would allow victims to be silenced through agreements that prohibit them from making disparaging remarks.  The woman who accused the governor’s deputy chief of staff, Johnny Anderson, of sexual harassment signed an agreement prohibiting her from making disparaging remarks about Anderson.

“The Louisiana Legislature is about to ban nondisclosure agreements but allow nondisparaging remarks’ agreements.  That is utter insanity.  We need to be serious about bringing sexual predators into the sunlight,” said Sen. Kennedy.  “This is a mockery and a disservice to victims.  By allowing ridiculous loopholes like this, we encourage violators who cover up their sins and pay their victims with taxpayer money.”

After recess, Sen. Kennedy will file the Stop Silencing Victims Act by prohibiting government employees from hiding behind nondisclosure agreements.  The bill will apply to state and federal employees.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) today introduced the No Red and Blue Banks Act to prohibit the award of federal contracts to banks that discriminate against lawful businesses through social policy considerations.  In particular, the legislation will ensure that corporate banks like Citigroup and Bank of America will not be awarded lucrative federal government contracts after trampling on business owners’ Second Amendment rights.  

Last year, Citigroup and Bank of America announced policies that will restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens.  Citigroup wants to tell businesses what kind of firearms and accessories they can stock in their stores and who can buy them.  Bank of America will no longer loan money to businesses that manufacture semi-automatic rifles.

“Banks that violate law-abiding citizens’ constitutional rights have no business profiting off the federal government.  They’re threatening the sanctity of the Constitution and the Second Amendment,” said Sen. Kennedy.  “Citigroup and Bank of America are trying to make banking a red versus blue issue.  Anti-gun policies force business owners to abandon their Second Amendment rights in order to find banking services.  That’s a slap in the face to every American who helped bail out Citigroup and Bank of America during the financial crisis.”

“Banks should not be the arbiters of constitutionality,” said Senator Cramer. “This legislation ensures financial institutions cannot do business with the federal government if they do not respect the constitutional rights of their customers. The federal government should not be rewarding banks who target supporters of the Constitution.” 

Sens. Kennedy and Cramer also filed the Freedom Financing Act to ban financial institutions from refusing to do business with customers who may not share the same political values as the banks.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) delivered a speech on the Senate floor today about the need for immigration reform, including constructing a border wall, reforming U.S. asylum laws and calling an immigration summit to address the crisis at the southern border.

“Now, we’re a nation of immigrants, and I’m proud of that,” said Sen. Kennedy. “Americans cannot be called anti-immigrant.  Every year we welcome a million people across the world to become Americans (and) to come into our country.  They do it legally.  They follow the law.  They’re properly vetted.  They get in line.  They wait patiently, and we welcome them in.”

Floor speech highlights:

Immigration summit: “I think we should start with a presidential summit.  Not a representative of the presidents, but a presidential summit of the president of the United States, the president of Mexico, President Lopez Obrador, and the presidents of the Northern Triangle countries, and let’s see what we can do to solve this problem.”

Border wall: “We do have a problem at the border.  ‘Problem’ is an understatement. In March, we had 100,000 people come into our country illegally.  One hundred thousand.  That’s the most in 10 years.  If that continues, we’re going to set a record this year for people entering our country illegally.”

“We’ve got to solve this problem ourselves.  The first thing we have to do is build a wall.  I’m not talking about a wall from sea to shining sea.  We have 1,900 miles of border.  I’m talking about barriers strategically placed.  You cannot seal a 1,900-mile piece of real estate without a barrier.  It can’t be done.”

Illegal immigration: “Illegal immigration is illegal.  Even if you think it’s a good idea, and I don’t.  If you care about the rule of law, which is one of the bedrock principles in America, then you would want to stop the illegal immigration.”

Asylum law reform: “The second thing we need to do, Madame President, as you well know, is to pass asylum laws that look like somebody designed the things on purpose.  Because what we have now, doesn’t fit that description.”

 “This United States Senate should be debating America’s asylum laws right this second.  I’m not saying the other things we’re doing - we are in the personnel business - aren’t important, but there’s not a single issue right now that’s more important.  Congress needs to do its job!  The Senate ought to be debating this issue right now.”

Click here or the photo below to watch Sen. Kennedy’s full floor speech.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), met with U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, M.D., and Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought today to discuss a solution to the duplication of benefits issue facing thousands of Louisiana families affected by the 2016 floods.

Today, Sen. Kennedy insisted that Vought and Carson agree on a realistic deadline to address this issue directly.  Vought and Carson agreed to have answer back to the senators by April 16.

“I told Secretary Carson and Mr. Vought that they need to come back to us in two weeks with an answer to this duplication of benefits problem,” said Sen. Kennedy.  “Congress has done its job and now we’re stuck pressuring the bureaucracy of HUD and the OMB.  We have waited long enough for a solution, and my patience is running thin.  If they come back to us in two weeks with an answer we don’t like, I plan to appeal to their boss, the President of the United States.”

Sens. Kennedy and Cassidy met with Secretary Carson on March 14 to discuss fixing this issue.  On March 1, the senators sent a letter to Secretary Carson urging him to immediately address the duplication of benefits issue.  On Feb. 27, Kennedy and Cassidy placed holds on two U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) nominees in order to put pressure on HUD and to reiterate the importance of the problem.

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