Recent claims PolitiFact checked out included Sen. Roy Blunt's description of what Congress' rules require of those who file sexual harassment complaints against members; Rep. Nancy Pelosi's remark about stagnant wage growth; and President Donald Trump's claim that black home ownership has reached a record level. Here are summaries of our findings. Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com.
“In the current law, if you report harassment, you’re the one that has to go into 20 hours of counseling before you can decide whether you were really harassed.”
— Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017 in an interview on “Meet the Press”
That seemed like an uncommon rule, so we wanted to dig into Blunt’s claim.
Any member or employee of Congress who reports a violation of the Congressional Accountability Act (including sexual harassment) must go through mandatory steps to file a claim. This is known as the Dispute Resolution Process.
Blunt’s statement addresses the first step: counseling. The person reporting sexual harassment must request counseling with the Office of Compliance within 180 days of the alleged harassment.
Blunt said the counseling process takes 20 hours. We were unable to confirm the number of counseling hours each person receives during the 30-day period.
Our ruling
According to the Office of Compliance, any employee or member of Congress must go through counseling for a 30-day period before they can continue with further steps of reporting the harassment. However, we were unable to find evidence detailing how many hours the 30-day period includes.
Blunt’s statement is on the right track but needs further clarification with the “hours” claim.
We rate it Half True.
“Even with full control of the House, Senate and White House, Republicans have still failed to deliver on their promise of higher wages for working families.”
— Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 in a statement released by her office
Pelosi’s talking point is a stretch: Federal data show wage growth since President Donald Trump took office in January, though one of the two measurements shows the gains barely outpacing inflation.
For the last quarter fully under President Barack Obama, the fourth quarter of 2016, the figure for median usual weekly inflation-adjusted earnings for full-time wage and salary workers age 16 and over was $348.
After Trump took office, it rose to $350 in the first quarter of 2017, rose again to $354 in the second quarter, and remained the same at $354 in the third and most recent quarter.
The $6 increase may not seem like much, but it’s still almost a 2 percent increase above the rate of inflation over just three quarters, and that runs counter to the point Pelosi was trying to make.
Our ruling
The two best statistics for judging Pelosi's assertion both show wage growth. One shows growth that's barely above inflation, meaning Americans wouldn't necessarily keep any more of their income in their pocket. We rate her statement Mostly False.
“Black home ownership just hit the highest level it has ever been in the history of our country.”
— President Donald Trump on Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 in a rally in Pensacola, Fla.
Black home ownership hasn’t hit a new record high. (The White House did not respond to an inquiry.)
According to Census Bureau data, black home ownership peaked in 2004 at 49.1 percent. It has fallen incrementally almost every year since. In fact, the rate is now about one-sixth lower than it was at its peak.
African-Americans are less than two-thirds as likely as non-Hispanic whites to own a home, and the most recent rate for African-Americans, 41.6 percent in 2016, ranks behind each of the other four major groups: non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, Asian-Americans and Native Americans.
In fact, in 2005 the Hispanic home ownership rate overtook that of African-Americans, with the two groups diverging ever since.
Our ruling
The black home ownership rate peaked in 2004 and has fallen almost every year since, due in large part to the Great Recession and its aftermath. We rate the statement False.
