Jeanne Shaheen: “I had intended to come to the floor earlier today with Senator Grassley so that we could talk about our legislation that…”

“I had intended to come to the floor earlier today with Senator Grassley so that we could talk about our legislation that we are introducing this week, that would build upon our efforts to protect the survivors of sexual assault in the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, I got delayed, but Senator Grassley was here on the floor. I want to recognize all of his efforts to address this critical issue, and appreciate, again, his willingness to work with me. The effort to extend rights for sexual assault survivors across the country is critically important, and I am hopeful that when the bill that we introduced gets to the floor, that all of our colleagues will join us in passing this bipartisan legislation. I first became involved in the precursor to this legislation in 2015, when a young woman named Amanda Nguyen of the Rise organization contacted my office. She had been traveling from office to office here in the Senate, trying to find somebody to listen to her story. Amanda is a survivor of sexual assault, and she is a fierce advocate for change in the way our criminal justice system treats survivors. When she detailed her harrowing story of sexual assault and subsequent interactions with the criminal justice system, it was very clear something had to change. Amanda described a system that further traumatized survivors and provided scarce protection of their rights.…”