Political Quotes

“one of the concerns I have is that we have been studying this issue and debating this issue for years. We have had several floor debates. We had two floor debates because we only got to vote on it twice. Both times, we had the majority of the Senate promoting this provision. What we have is a record of our allies already making this change, not for the issue of sexual assault in the military but for the issue of defendants' rights. The UK, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Australia all took serious crimes, a bright-line of felonies out of the chain of command because they believed that a defendant had a right to basic civil liberties. When they did so, they did not see a diminution in command control or the ability to have good order and discipline within the ranks. And they wrote to one of the many panels that we have had over the past 10 years--that information--to tell them that this is a change we have made. And the UK even said this was a change that our commanders basically didn't notice. So this is not some untested, out-of-the-box idea. This is an idea that is supported by the survivors, by veterans, by commanders, by experts in military justice, and by our allies. I believe that our servicemembers deserve a criminal justice system worthy of the sacrifices they make. Last, I do not think this is a moment to defer to the committee.…”