Political Quotes

“Madam President, I would like to call attention to a provision within the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. I would like to thank Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Inhofe, Chairman McKeon, and Ranking Member Smith, for including in this year's National Defense Authorization Act my amendment, with Senators Collins, Kaine, and Grassley, to expand whistleblower and enhance protections for servicemembers who alert authorities to misconduct that includes sexual assaults and other sexual misconduct. I would like to thank my colleagues, Senators Collins, Kaine and Grassley, for their partnership in winning this breakthrough in newly-strengthened free speech rights for our troops when they defend accountability in the military services. It is important to be clear about a cornerstone of our amendment, which is the guaranteed right to an administrative due process hearing in all whistleblower retaliation cases. New subsection f(3)(B) provides that if the Secretary does not make a finding of illegal retaliation and order corrective action, the case shall be forwarded to the appropriate Board for Corrections of Military Records to receive a mandatory administrative due process hearing, ``when appropriate.'' There should not be any confusion. It is always appropriate to forward the case for hearing if jurisdiction exists for whistleblower retaliation alleged in the servicemember's complaint.…”