Ohio Democratic Congresswomen Emilia Sykes, Shontel Brown and Joyce Beatty

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative Emilia Sykes (OH-13), an Akron Democrat and vice chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, joined DWC Executive Steering Committee Member Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Co-Vice Chair Hillary Scholten (MI-03), and Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03) in leading 128 members of the DWC and House Democratic Caucus in a letter sent Wednesday to House Speaker Mike Johnson urging him to remove a dangerous provision in the BUILD America 250 Act. That provision shields rideshare companies such as Uber and Lyft from liability when passengers are sexually assaulted, injured, or killed during rides.

11th Congressional District Congresswoman Shontel Brown, a Warrensville Heights. Democrat, and Third Congressional District Congresswoman Joyce Beatty of Columbus, who is also Black like Sykes and from Ohio, were among the lawmakers signing the letter to Johnson.

Read the full letter here.

The lawmakers complain that opening the door for Uber and Lyft to receive a liability shield is likely to disproportionately harm women and girls. It would also reduce available recourse for survivors of crashes, sexual assaults, and other incidents that occur when using rideshare services.

The letter to  Speaker Johnson, a Republican and President Donald Trump ally,  argues Congress should strengthen rideshare safety protections and corporate accountability—not create pathways for immunity for multibillion-dollar corporations amid ongoing reports of sexual assault tied to rideshare platforms.

The Democrats  demand that Speaker Johnson remove this provision from the BUILD America 250 Act before the bill moves to the House floor, adding that rideshare companies’ failures to adequately adopt policies to protect passengers and drivers from sexual misconduct are well-documented and chilling.They also argue that survivors must have the right to hold companies accountable when corporate failures contribute to preventable harm.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most-read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former President Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.