Jackie Speier: “I am proud to speak in support of this bill which passed out of our committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. This…”

“I am proud to speak in support of this bill which passed out of our committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. This year's NDAA continues the committee's tradition of improving the lives of servicemembers and their families by supporting a 2.7 percent pay raise; increasing parental leave for new mothers and fathers, including adoptive and foster parents; expanding financial assistance for in-home child care; improving the legal representation for exceptional family members; and demanding an independent review of suicides. Following the horrifying murder of Specialist Vanessa Guillen and a ground swell of activism from survivors of military sexual trauma, H.R. 4350 also boldly confronts sexual assault and harassment in the military, which has been one of my top priorities for a decade, by removing the commander from decisions related to prosecution of special victim crimes, improving sexual harassment investigations, and continuing to improve military criminal investigative resources. It also establishes standalone offenses for sexual harassment and violent extremism under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. These reforms will increase trust in the military justice system and encourage survivors of sexual violence to come forward. The bill also requires an independent review of whether to transfer additional offenses such as murder that are out of the chain of command. Where servicemembers serve, so do their families.…”