Mazie Hirono: “there is not a single Senator here who does not acknowledge the seriousness of sexual assault in the military and that…”

“there is not a single Senator here who does not acknowledge the seriousness of sexual assault in the military and that we must do something to prevent and prosecute these crimes. Yes, there are differences of opinion as to what we need to do, but make no mistake, we share the common goal of preventing and prosecuting these crimes. I thank two strong women on the Armed Services Committee, Senator McCaskill and Senator Gillibrand, for their leadership in pushing for solutions that will make a difference. I also thank Chairman Levin for his commitment and leadership in bringing forth a bill that includes a number of important improvements to the current system. We all support these changes. However, I believe there is a fundamental structural problem with how sexual assault cases are prosecuted in the military. We need to make the changes proposed by the Gillibrand amendment. I am a cosponsor of the Gillibrand amendment. I spoke on the floor last week and explained why I think we need to remove disposition authority from the chain of command. I don't want to repeat everything I said last week, so let me make a few points. First, for two decades or longer the Department of Defense has had a zero tolerance policy for sexual assault and sexual harassment. Yet the problem persists. Servicemembers continue to be assaulted and raped, and in too many cases the perpetrators continue to go unpunished.…”