The John Lewis Every Child Deserves a Family Act was championed by the late-civil rights icon and congressman, and it’s named in his honor. Currently, federally-funded child welfare agencies are prohibited from discriminating based on race only, but the proposed legislation would extend that to sexual orientation, gender identity, and religious beliefs, among others.
Co-sponsor New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said government needs to ensure a quality and equitable foster system.
“Organizations that receive taxpayer dollars cannot be allowed to discriminate against caring and responsible foster and adoptive parents,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Our legislation would end this outrageous discriminatory policy, and help give more children a loving home and create a system that supports the best interest of our children in foster care and adoptive parents alike.”
Melina Mara / Associated Press
The nation’s top general has signaled he might be open to the kind of military justice reforms that New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has pushed for to put sexual assault cases in the hands of civilian authorities.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley stopped short of endorsing calls to remove military sexual assault cases from the chain of command, but said the current system hasn’t worked.
Gillibrand, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said it’s “deeply significant” that Milley has dropped his opposition. She introduced a bipartisan bill last week that would overhaul how the military handles sexual assault cases.
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Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Kirtsen Gilibrand are leading the legislative push to address sexual abuse in the military. Crédito: Getty images / Univision
In 1992, Paula Coughlin was a Navy helicopter pilot when she blew the whistle on one of the biggest sexual abuse scandals in U.S. military history.
While attending a military conference in September 1991 in Las Vegas, she was assaulted by a large group of drunken male attendees in what became known as the Tailhook scandal.
Even though other women came forward with similar accusations, no one was ever prosecuted.
She recalls that when she told her commander what had taken place, “I was told, ‘that’s what you get’.”