Political Quotes

“I had the privilege of listening to my colleagues, Senator Hirono and Senator Blumenthal, who have been addressing this issue of sexual assault in the military. As both of them said so persuasively and articulately, our military justice system is broken. The sense of trust that a man or woman serving in the military today, who has been subjected to rape or sexual assault, has been broken--and not just between them and the assailants in their unit but between them and their commanders. In fact, the trust that their commander will have their back, that they will have these crimes investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice has been broken. Even General Amos, Commandant of the Marines, said so. He said: I can see why a female marine might not report a case of sexual assault. They don't trust us. She doesn't trust the chain of command. This is our challenge. We have to reform the system because these are some of the best men and women in the world that make our military as strong as it is. But we are subjecting them to not only these great acts of violence but then the second heartbreak, the second revictimization of having a military justice system that does not have their back or they are convinced not to report these crimes because justice will not be done or nothing will be done or they will be retaliated against for reporting. The No. 1 reason 23,000 cases last year went unreported was because victims believed nothing would be done.…”