Of the chief prosecutor would be created making biting referrals on special victims of offenses in our military Service Academy to the superintendent. Academies are placing a Sexual Assault crisis. And we are asleep at the wheel. This is not a new crisis, we just tricked ourselves into believing it was getting better. It has not. What you see on this order in the back of me is a series of articles that have appeared over the last four to five years of one tragedy after another, one scandal after another at the academy. The number of Sexual Assault at the military Service Academy has more than doubled, i repeat more than doubled from 3272747 from 2013 2018. Over that time reporting rates decreased from 60 12 . Last academic year, one in six women at west point and the Naval Academy are victims of unwanted sexual contact. As were one in summit at the air force academy. Last year half of all the females cadets and midshipmen at the academy were severely or pervasively harassed. None of them, none of them reported it. Surprisingly only 45 of all female cadets and midshipmen trust that their Academy Leadership would treat them with big ultra dignity and respect if they were to experience Sexual Assault. When the military released its latest report of familiar patterns, headlines played out in alarm, congress expressed concern in the academy testified in front of this committee to say there is a real problem, one assault is too many. I dont know how many times we must go around before we realized we are stuck on it. I dont doubt for second the commitment of the superintendent of combating Sexual Assault. But they dont necessarily have the right tools. My mma creates a four Year Pilot Program as an experiment, tool potentially to create accountability, improve the accountability of the Justice System and increase reporting. The superintendent was still be in charge of combating assault at the academies of the military justice and of Sexual Assault trials specifically. The superintendent would make prosecutor determinations in assault cases. Last february general williams told the subcommittee that is most important tool in fighting assault were its expectations. He still hasnt. But instead of the superintendent making prosecutions decisions, effective, independent would make a biting recommendation to them. As a superintendent as agreed he could appeal the decision to the department of defense general counsel. This change would make the system more just, the managers often time have conflict of interest between the survivor in the unit. Even when they handle the responsibility well, the fact that commanders have the power and conflict of sexual victim cases undermine the credibility of the system. Commanders have judge advocate and ive heard from one that the lawyers will cover the interest of the client. When making recommendations and not the fairness of the system. On state he believed based on research and conversations from survivors is objective, prosecutors made decisions instead of commuters, more survivors would come forward and test the military Justice System. This amendment offers a bold step to address the problem of the academy. Again, it creates a four Year Pilot Program so we can observe, learn and inform your policy. The academies are not operational, educational institutions there be no impact on readiness but since cadets and midshipmen are in the age group of the highest assault privileged we test the model. I want to make a comment on this i want to take a brief recess until we can figure out the amendment and if people in opportunity to make an informed discussion on what it is. Apparently the amendment isnt showing up on peoples compute computers. Pretty sure whatever you are showing me is not going to we are going to distribute but what is wrong with our wonderful Computer System . Give people a chance to look at it the oldfashioned way. [inaudible conversations] we are going to come back to order so i can ask the staff some questions. Im sorry if you can sit down in front of me so i can see the staff. When the substitute amendment offered, is the author supposed to give you enough copies for all the members, or how does that work, i thought it was part of the requirement of the amendment. This seems like a summary of the amendment and not actual legislative text. Sorry about the procedural issues we are trying to get technology to work i want to first begin by thanking the chairman for her dedication and commitment its a difficult issue and emotional as we do deal with how to assist victims, Sexual Assault violates the very nature of someones human rights. We focused on three different areas prevention, prosecution, protection to give you a little history. What we did is we tried to form a bipartisan Sexual Assault prevention caucus for the purpose of embedding and working and continuously trying to strive on this issue. Over the past ten years working with the congresswoman, the bills we have passed in the past ten years include the strong act, to be safe act, the military act out the support act, the protect act and every year we have done in a Bipartisan Group of legislation on some of the things weve accomplished together since we worked diligently on this issue we raised the profile of the Sexual Assault prevention and required the Data Collections we created the victims advocates for counsel and did special training for Sexual Assault victim advocates. We allowed for the unit transfer in all of these we worke will wn conjunction with the Senate Taking this out of the chain of command is something that has been studied since 2014 we have the criminal Justice System and prevention prosecution protection. Prosecution is the toughest one because it is the criminal code so you start changing the criminal code and have cascading effects down to how even an accused is handled in a perpetrator is handled its raising the bar of our consciousness. We shouldnt do this on anecdotal issues. We have been thoughtful and substantive and we have studied this in every way that we have moved forward. There are a number of provisions in the bill that are bipartisan and this wouldnt be one of them. With my amendment does, it takes virtually the provision in the senate bill this year they took up and debated this issue everything done on a bipartisan basis all adopted and became law with support from the senate. So we havent done this with just one house or one party. Bipartisan and bicameral. What ive done as a substitute amendment that allows us to adopt the same provision that the senate has said that when we go to conference, we will take up this matter together and what it says is just recently in the legislative changes that weve made some of them went into effect on january the 2,019th we would b2,019th ofthe wouldbe cy without giving an opportunity with some of the changes to take affect. Lets get an empirical understanding on a bipartisan basis and substantively what do we need to do in the criminal Justice System with respect to this issue rather than making a surgical Pilot Program that could affect and those that are accused so i would ask for the support for this amendment. I certainly want to just one more time tell you how much i appreciate the chairmans commitment to the issue of assault in the military. We have this one we should adopt on the substitute. The underlining amendment is that correct . Anyone want to take a quick stab at the difference between the report language an in the bill language . That is not encouraging. Im trying to see if the staff can give me a shot of. It is to actually execute the direct report language that has been doing a study. It was a direct report language. The bill is passed and they have to do it. The direct report language directs them to do something and they do with 99 of the time but its a report and it hasnt stopped long. Let me say this committee has done a great deal of work weve had debates on it before and another here and its bipartisan in terms of how people feel about it. I think she made the point that what weve done in the course of the last ten years or so i have heard taking it out of the chain of command is potentially problematic and on the other hand doing this as a Pilot Project to see if it does improve things given the problems we have mike makes a. So all the members are clear, we worked together on this and this is when there was not agreement, and that there hasnt been she does have the right to speak again, but who seeks recognition . Mr. Brown. Thank you mr. Chairman. I speak in opposition to the substitute amendment because i support the underlining amendment. First of all, i commend the committee long before i got on the committee, and in the efforts are taken to address this is our family in the emotional, physical, spiritual and otherwise. We have a problem in the family. Weve taken steps to addressing that as mentioned, they were not moving in the right direction. In a larger force, Sexual Assault is up 37 in the last 35 years. Theyve more than doubled at the Service Academies. I like the substitute amendment and the fact that the senate has tested, and i hope that we adopt it in conference because the will have an opportunity to have both the substitute amendment coming to us from the senate and the Pilot Program. If the amendment before us was saying lets take it away from all commanders, i would have some problems and concerns, because i have. Maybe we should study more of the impact. I disagree, but the Pilot Program would have a cascading effect. Im sympathetic and tha that ist what this underlining amendment does. It addresses three to six convening authorities that the superintendent and, bonds and three academic institutions. One of the reasons it is often offered as to why we shouldnt take courtmartials convening authority for the Sexual Assault cases away from commanders is because the commanders have these large responsibilities by units are about to deploy to afghanistan to if he doesnt got though i may lose ten people in afghanistan. This isnt what we are talking about. This is more akin to the relationship that you as a student have through the University President or the dean of college. This is for the Service Academy. And while they train on things like how we create unit cohesion and impose and enforce discipline it is what they looked like when you graduated from the Service Academies. Also in the underlining amendment, the only thing that it takes away from the superintendent and comment on is the decision whether to go to courtmartial or not. If the position by the prosecutor is we are not going to go to courtmartial on this, the superintendent can still superimpose on the amendment. Postconviction if it does go to courtmartial, first of all the superintendent can appeal it and that is in the Pilot Program. The postconviction, all of the rights if you will be authorities and superintendents continue to have it stressed the decision whether or not to go to the courtmartial or not. The favorite fighter wing and marine group are not being impacted. Thats why it is important to look at the substitute amendment when it comes over to us from the senate, but why not pilot its . We have a problem in the family. And weve got to fix it. To me it is even more egregious in its committed by someone in the family come and we have servicemembers on Service Members and this case the deaths armed cadets. In the last five years thereve been two cadets in boulder and something is wrong at the academies we can fix this and begin to address it with the Pilot Program. She is very admirable in taking us on. As ive been one for five different times, i think that our common bonds are superintendents and need to have the courtmartial authority. This is part of command. And my experience underlies this. The frequencies in the military and weve got to fix it so i came up with a game plan and we were able to lower the untold one of the best rates in the force and we were recognized as having the best Sexual Assault program in the entire air force. The commercia commercial authore key to that and the central key that i used. I dont want to give that to someone else to tell me what i can do or what i cant as a commander. The chain of command involves commanders, not lawyers and i respect you, mr. Brown, but deciding to courtmartial authority is the decision of a commander. Its not something you rent out or lease out to someone else. Commanders are responsible for the discipline of their units and their academies, not a lawyer. So, i know that they have been most of the academies. There is no one more dedicated to fighting than he is. One is too many. We have a problem with our candidates and services and a problem in our society. Sexual assault is the evidence to be convicted and we need to put them on trial. We do not take the authority out of the commander. It undermines the command authority of the superintendent and, bonds and they are the ones responsible for the discipline of their units, not a lawyer. I yield back. I seek to separate the underlining amendment. I want to thank you for the leadership and addressing the supporting survivors and i appreciate the importance of good order and discipline for the Commanding Officer to maintain it. For the good order and discipline. There is research out there that says women cadets would be more likely to come out to report incidences of Sexual Assault if there were somebody outside of the chain of command that they could talk to. It allows us to test that. It creates an office of the chief prosecutor that will test the ability to enable the Service Academies to vigorously and appropriately investigate allegations of Sexual Assault without implicating commanding authorities, im sorry, the commanders authority and good order and discipline. This is a Pilot Program in something that needs to be tested to see if it can work. Thats why im in favor of it and support it. We need to do something differently because what we are doing right now isnt working. I support this amendment and encourage my student sticking te thing. I suppose the substitute amendment. Mr. Bishop. Procedurally to adopt the senate language, it means its gone. Its guaranteed i would like to yield up the remainder of my time to mr. Turner. Thank you mr. Bishop and mr. Chairman. The chairman asked a question about the report language versus non report language and i think that we need to report language on a study they are going to do the same. Its not like compulsion or not compulsion. They are not free no enough to o the study. The compulsory aspect is a report aspect and correct me if im wrong it actually changes criminal justice code. Im going to yield back to why this is important. For all of us pause for a moment, separate from the debate and clear your head and think. Im going to make a change to the criminal justice code, what would i like . How about the opinion of an attorney or the opinion of the department of defense, how about an opinion of those people that actually do those things. With respect to the chairwoman because we both have such great passion on this issue and i have strong records that they dont have any of this. This is the subcommittee chairmans perspective on what needs to happen to the criminal justice code editors huge danger here. If you try to prosecute me under a Pilot Program, the first thing im going to argue is equal protection under the constitution why am i being treated differently than somebody else . We could undermine the basis of the prosecutorial aspect because weve not studied this or looked at what the impacts are. They dont even look if you can carve out from criminal justice a Pilot Program. I told you there are three things we tried to do it again, great legislation that has huge impact prevention, prosecution and prevention. Do a Pilot Program on prevention country Pilot Program on protection, but a Pilot Program on the criminal Justice System, it is absolutely fraught with danger. The other aspect of the data shows for the criminal Justice System and the military with the increase of the Sexual Assault and reporting or actuality is one that you should focus on prevention. Does anyone in the room believe somebody is going to be prevented from perpetrating a Sexual Assault because there is a Pilot Program. One of the things we try to communicate to people is not only is it such an ultimate violation the third parties will come forward and report it so other people will protect others. We shouldnt look at just an anecdotal response on this, we need to look for actual substantive advice as to what to do and for this, we do not have the requisite information we would need to do the Privilege Program in the criminal Justice System. With that, i will yield back. I speak in opposition to the