Olympia Snowe: “I am pleased to rise in support of this amendment, which will require that every military service must establish a…”

“I am pleased to rise in support of this amendment, which will require that every military service must establish a crystal-clear, zero-tolerance policy that military personnel who are convicted of a sexual offense will not be permitted to continue to serve our Nation in uniform. According to the Department of Defense, approximately 3,000 sexual assaults were reported in the military in 2011. Yet some estimate that the actual number of sexual assaults in our military in 2011 is closer to 19,000, accounting for the terrible reality that many attacks are never reported. Without question, this is an entirely unacceptable situation, and is another compelling reason that the Department of Defense, as well as Congress, must continue to do what is necessary to eliminate, once and for all, sexual assaults from occurring within our military ranks. Unfortunately, as my colleague Senator Gillibrand has noted, each of the services have different policies for dealing with military personnel who are convicted of a sexual offense. As a result, according to the Department of Defense's April 2012 Sexual Assault Prevention and Response report, approximately 40 percent of servicemembers who have been convicted of a sexual offense in a courts-martial are not discharged or dismissed as part of that judgment. Our honorable and law-abiding military personnel deserve far better. And that is why our amendment is so important.…”