Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the time has come for this bill to pass. After 8 years of Senator Gillibrand's work in this area, it proves that she is a Senator who doesn't give up, and it proves that she is a Senator who can bring bipartisanship to a city that needs more bipartisanship. So I, like her, call on my colleagues to pass this bill, the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, by unanimous consent. I first joined Senator Gillibrand in advocating for this legislation in 2013, after truly horrifying reports out of the Pentagon about the rate of sexual assault and other criminal offenses going unpunished and a recommendation from a Commission on how to improve the system. Whether it is in the military or whether it is outside the military, a crime is a crime, and it ought to be punished. It shouldn't be overlooked, as so often is what happens in the military. We have been pushing for this bill ever since, despite promises from the Department of Defense that they had everything under control. We heard, time and time again, about new initiatives to stop sexual assaults and harassment. Yet things are worse today than when we started out. They haven't worked. In the most recent review, almost 21,000 soldiers were victims of sexual assault.…”