Susan Davis: “I certainly want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle because I think we've seen how people can come…”

“I certainly want to thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle because I think we've seen how people can come together on a serious issue like this that really does affect our national security. What's so important about this bill is I think it sends a message. It sends a message to perpetrators. But more than that, it sends a message to bystanders that responding to bad behavior is an important and critical thing to do. We can celebrate the good behavior, and I think this is also a way of sending that message. But we're saying that bad behavior will not be tolerated. We see this not just in our Armed Forces, but we see it around the country, as well. Just recently, General Morrison of Australia had a very, I think, concise and strong message to his troops in saying that the standard that you walk past is the standard that you uphold. Let's uphold the highest standard. Retaliation drives people from not reporting sexual abuse and sexual crimes. We need it to be okay to report because if people are fearing for their career or fearing that somehow they're going to be so demoralized by reporting, that's not going to work. This is a good bill, and I applaud all my colleagues for supporting it.”