美国国家公共电台 NPR Sen. Al Franken Says He 'Crossed The Line' But Won't Resign

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

This week, the House will vote on a bill called the ME TOO Congress Act that will require all lawmakers and staff to complete anti-harassment¹ training. This comes as two Democrats³ in Congress face sexual harassment complaints. This morning, Representative John Conyers of Michigan announced he would step down as ranking Democrat² on the House Judiciary Committee because of sexual misconduct allegations. He denies those. And then there's Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, who has also been accused of harassment. He has apologized but said in an interview today that he has not considered resigning. Mark Zdechlik of Minnesota Public Radio has more on that.

MARK ZDECHLIK, BYLINE⁴: Franken broke his silence in an interview with Minnesota Public Radio News. Since mid-November, four women have made allegations against him. Three say Franken touched their buttocks during photo-ops, one of those when Franken was a senator. A fourth accuses Franken of forcibly kissing her before his Senate career when the two were on a USO tour in 2006. That fourth woman also released a photo of Franken reaching toward her chest and smiling for the camera as she slept aboard an airplane in military fatigues⁵. Franken called the picture inexcusable and claims he would never knowingly touch women inappropriately.

AL FRANKEN: I meet tens of thousands of people. I'm someone who hugs people, you know. And I've learned from these stories that in some of these encounters I have crossed a line for some women.

ZDECHLIK: Many Franken opponents, and some supporters, have called on him to resign. Franken says he hasn't even considered stepping down.

FRANKEN: No. No. The ethics⁶ committee is looking into all this, and I will cooperate fully⁷ with it. Listen. I know I have a lot of work to do to regain⁸ the trust of people I've let down.

ZDECHLIK: Franken says he'll return to the Senate on Monday.

FRANKEN: I'm going to go forward. I'm going to take responsibility. I'm going to be held accountable. And I'm going to try to be productive in the way I speak about this.

ZDECHLIK: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and many others have called for an ethics committee investigation⁹ into Franklin's alleged¹⁰ behavior. For NPR News, I'm Mark Zdechlik St. Paul.