Political Quotes

“Madam President, I thank Senators Gillibrand and McCaskill for their dedication and commitment to dealing with sexual assault in the military and for bringing a serious problem to the forefront of Congress. Their work on the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act helped reform the Uniform Code of Military Justice. But I believe we must do more. My perspective on prosecuting military sexual assault comes from my 33 years in the Montana National Guard. My view on this is simple: The current system is failing the men and women in uniform. And failure is unacceptable. While no legislation is perfect, I believe we must fundamentally change how we deal with sexual assault in our military. While I support the reforms that passed last year, we have moved too slowly. Today's debate is about where we go from here. In the Armed Forces today, a military commander is ultimately responsible for the prosecution of these crimes. In the Montana National Guard, except when federalized, we did things differently. If the unimaginable happened, the prosecution of sexual assault would occur outside the purview of a military commander. Senator Gillibrand's Military Justice Improvement Act removes prosecutions from the purview of military commanders--much like the Montana National Guard system. One of the arguments I have heard against this bill is that if we shift the prosecution of sexual assault outside the chain of command, military leaders will somehow lose their authority on other matters.…”