Political Quotes

“I rise for the sixth time to call for this entire body to have the opportunity to consider and cast their votes on the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act. This commonsense reform would ensure that people in the military who are subjected to sexual assault and other serious crimes have the opportunity to get the justice that they deserve. Under the current system, fewer than 1 in 10 sexual assault cases that are considered for command action are sent to trial, and under the current culture, nearly 2 in 3 sexual assault survivors experience some form of retaliation for reporting that crime. That means a survivor of sexual assault is far more likely to face consequences than an assailant. When a 2016 Pentagon survey showed that 58 percent of survivors perceived retaliation for reporting their assaults, commanders said it was unacceptable, and Congress demanded action; but instead of working to change the system or the culture, the response was to make retaliation a specific crime, despite the fact that it already was a chargeable offense under title 10, section 1034 of the United States Code. It was nothing more than window dressing. We know that is true because, in 2018, when the same survey came out again, the perceived retaliation rate went up to 64 percent. The DOD estimates that 20,500 servicemembers are sexually assaulted each year.…”