Political Quotes

“I come to the floor because I believe the great strength of our military is in the character and dedication of our men and women who wear the uniform. It is the courage of these Americans to volunteer to serve. That is the Pentagon's greatest asset. I know it is said a lot, but take a minute to think about that. Our servicemembers volunteer to face danger, to put their lives on the line to protect our country and all of its people. When we think of those dangers, we think of IEDs. We think of battles with insurgents, many of whom are so cowardly and evil that they refuse to even wear a uniform themselves, and they seek to kill innocent civilians. There are, unfortunately, other dangers as well, dangers that cannot be expected and none of our courageous servicemembers should ever have to face. That is what I am speaking about, sexual assault. That continues to plague the ranks of our military services. It is absolutely unconscionable that a fellow servicemember, the person whom you rely on to have your back and be there for you, would commit such a terrible crime. It is simply appalling that they could commit such a personal violation of their brother or sister in uniform. Even worse is the prevalence of these crimes. Just today, we are hearing the alarming statistic that the number of cases has increased by more than one-third since 2010. For the estimated 26,000 cases of military sexual assault in 2012, less than 3,000 of them were reported.…”