Political Quotes

“I rise to join my colleagues in highlighting the epidemic of sexual assault in our Nation's armed services, and I am glad to join many of my colleagues here--the Senators from Maine and New Hampshire and our leader, the Senator from Maryland--in making sure the voices of women are heard in this debate. We know that in May 2013 the Defense Department released a report that showed 26,000 incidents of unwanted sexual contact among servicemembers. That is an increase of 35 percent over 2 years. In my State, Washingtonians are very proud of the incredible men and women who keep our country safe and defend us, and we are proud of the 10 military installations across our State. There are more than 65,000 men and women serving in military installations in the State of Washington--places such as Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Naval Station Everett, Naval Base Kitsap, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station, Bangor Naval Submarine Base, and Fairchild Air Force Base. So we took it seriously when there were 116 reports of sexual assault across all of these installations in the State of Washington in 2010. That number is too high, and that is only the amount that is being reported. We know there may be many assaults that go unreported. As my colleagues are saying, we need to do everything we can to address this problem.…”