Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise this morning to speak about this year's national defense authorization legislation and the important reforms that are a part of the underlying bill to improve our military's response to sexual assault within its ranks. The men and women in our Armed Services serve with courage in defense of our freedom every single day. In my eyes their service needs to be respected by taking decisive action to address the ongoing crisis--in fact, you can call it an epidemic--of sexual assault in the military. We know the system is broken, and it is long past time we fix it. I wish to share just one story from a remarkable and brave woman named Rachel who lives in LaCrosse, WI. Rachel joined the Army in 2004. She was sexually assaulted that same year while she was stationed at Fort Meade in Maryland for advanced individual training. After reporting her assault to her commanding officer, Rachel was interrogated for hours over numerous days and ultimately forced to drop the charge. She was written up for fraternization, and her assailant was not charged with any crime. As you can imagine, Rachel was deeply affected by the trauma of this crime and continues to face struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. But Rachel is a survivor and a true inspiration.…”