Political Quotes

“well, I just want to respond to my colleagues and chairman and ranking member. While I am extremely grateful for their leadership and their willingness to review and take on the IRC recommendations, the IRC recommendations are limited. It was only a 60-day review of the issue of sexual assault and sexual harassment only. It did not look at the military justice system overall. It did not have the benefit of 8 years of review, study, and passing related amendments and changes. Our committee has passed over 200--or nearly 250--different resolutions and changes to how the military deals with sexual harassment and sexual assault, to no effect. Deferring only to the IRC, which is an unelected panel that has only looked at this issue for 60 days, is not sufficient. Not only do we have Senators on the Armed Services Committee who have been studying this issue for 8 years, making recommendations and passing laws on this topic for 8 years, it would seem that to defer to a panel that has only looked at this issue for 60 days, to one issue, seems irresponsible. Second, I do not believe that issues of this weight and of this significance should be dealt with the committee only. The Armed Services Committee has been working on this issue for 10 years, and we have seen no improvement in the number of sexual assaults in the military and on the rate of prosecution and the rate of conviction. That is highly problematic.…”