Next a house hearing on Sexual Assault in the military after the death of private first class Vanessa Guillen. They reviewed how Sexual Assault is reported. Victims advocates recommended changing the process. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I am the chair, jackie speier, we will have a hearing entitled hashtag me too moment, an examination of Sexual Harassment and perceived retaliation in his apartment of defense at fort hood. The hearing will come to order. We are here to discuss the pernicious military culture, time and time again, report after report exposes an environment ripe for sexual veracity where women are afraid to report their harassers because of fear of retaliation, ostracism or worse, fear that they wont be believed in the harassers wont be held accountable. By declaring hashtag i am vanessa gillen, thousands of taken to the streets and social media demanding respect. Demanding the rules of the, quote, old boys love and locker room talk are no longer the price of admission, demanding the sexually explicit language in the motor pool, in the field, in the office stop, demanding that the unwelcome stairs in the Dining Facility and unyielding sexual propositions or worse stop. In an institution that prides itself in cohesiveness, to leave no soldier behind, we are failing. The use servicemembers and veterans who have taken to the streets, spurred by the horrific circumstances surrounding specialist Vanessa Guillens disappearance and murder raise their voices and lay their story of Sexual Harassment in the military. For too long they have lived in suffered in silence, silence by a culture that doesnt trust women, questions or competence, suspicious of their motives, perceive them as weak and unreliable but their voices will never again be silenced. When our servicemembers put their lives to defend our nation, when their parents, brothers, sisters, loved ones interested child, sister, friend to the military it should be with the comfort that they will not be sexually harassed, demeaned, raped, or brutally murdered by one of their own. Guillens death will not be in vain. You know the story by now. Specialist guillen was murdered in an arms room on fort hood on april 20 second 2020. For her family and loved ones, there is the memory of an Outstanding Young soldiers and the terrible belief that she had been sexually harassed by someone in her chain of command. After specialist guillens sister reported she had been harassed, the president hundreds of current and former military members, women and men, share their stories of Sexual Harassment, assault, and fears of retaliation under the social media Hashtag Hashtag i am guillen and hashtag i am vanessa. Stories like tristans who is in her first week of tech school when she went to a Birthday Party for a fellow airman where she was drugged and sexually assaulted. She had her assailants all received the same punishment, letter of reprimand for underage drinking. Stories like crystal who joined the navy at age 18, on her first deployment was called, when she reported the Sexual Harassment to an official she asked that it be kept confidential but her request was not honored. After the sharp told one of her supervisors the harassment got worse and her commander told crystal that she needed to, quote, grow up. The abuse didnt stop and instead turned physical. A sharp official discouraged her from reporting it saying she could ask herself is it worth it . Crystal reported the assault anyway but her assailants were given a slap on the wrist and one was even promoted. Stories like tylers, and ordinance marine and newly open about his sexuality, respected Staff Sergeant would tease him in front of other marines but also offered to serve as his mentor. This mentorship continued until Staff Sergeant sexually assaulted tyler. Tyler confided in a fellow marine who suggested tyler keep his mouth shut about the incident because he thought the leadership to defend the Staff Sergeant, tylers career would be cut short. Tyler took the advice, kept silent and ultimately transferred to the army. These stories and thousands more provided the catalyst for grassroots movements combating Sexual Harassment, assault in the military to spring up across social media. Rallies individuals were held in specialist guillens name to promote awareness and demand reform. The coast guard is outside the Committee Jurisdiction but the cultural rot is the same. Recently sarah faulkner, the coast guards first female rescue swimmer spoke out against the extreme hostility and debasing she endured throughout her distinguished career of 20 years. She has become a rallying cry for other women and men in the coast guard as dozens more have come forward to share their stories of harassment and assault despite coast guard leadership pressuring them not to speak out or even post support online for sarah and her colleagues who were also interviewed. In the 5part investigative series that was printed recently in 29 daily newspapers in 14 states servicemembers everywhere have raised their voices to demand accountability, callout their perpetrators and demand change now. Their voices are a warning to those who deny the problem. Will glorify a culture not of honor, duty and respect but a culture imbued with misogyny and reticence to change. This is my warning. Sexual harassment, Sexual Assault, retaliation, are never acceptable. Find solutions, fix problems, get out of the way. As john lewis would call us to do, then get in the way. We will not continue to lose soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines because Sexual Harassment is one of the most pervasive and degrading facts of military life. This is a quote from a female servicemember in the story of the Washington Post in 1980. That was 40 years ago. Little has changed in those 40 years except weve thrown a lot of money at the problem. I estimate close to 1 billion now and what do we have to show for it . We are going to explore that today. I have spent ten years on this issue. I dont take any pride in the numbers going down going up because frankly not much has changed. For all we have done not much has changed. We havent fixed it. Until we get very serious about this, nothing is going to change. I think the panels that are here today, we will be hearing from you shortly. Before we introduce the first panel let me introduce Ranking Member kelly for his opening remarks. Thank you, chairwoman speier and for holding this important hearing on this important topic today. Thank you to our panelists for sharing your findings. It is vitally important we understand any positive or negative trends in fort hood. I think both panels will help us get respected on that. Sexual harassment is a scourge across society rooted in ignorance and disrespect that has no place in our military. When younger men and women put up their hand and swear the oath to protect our constitution and country they do it with the understanding and belief that they protect us and that we will protect them. We will protect their dignity, honor their sacrifice, recognize and defend their professionalism, for it maltreatment undermining that commitment and dishonest the sacrifice for each and every one of us. When i was a Brigade Commander in the army i dealt with Sexual Harassment, and sometimes exploited because a gender. The only way to counter the threat is quick and Decisive Action at every level in the chain of command, fighting to establish a culture of intolerance for Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment demeans the service of these victims are more professional, capable, and committed that those who victimize them. Sexual harassment is a societal problem, that doesnt mean we can accept any lesser levels of harassment in the military and call it a victory. The military is better than that grounded in common values, that have no place for harassment, or exploitation of other Service Members. Any level of Sexual Harassment is unacceptable. Reporting may be trending favorably and that is important so leaders can illuminate and eradicate problems, prevention and response may be improving but any level of harassment is too much. We need to find creative ways for educating and empowering leaders at all levels and the most vulnerable populations of servicemembers to shape culture of intolerance and set conditions, and response at all levels. Im interested in hearing any ideas for how we can make that happen. How we can make institutional change because our servicemembers deserve our fool attention and every effort we can muster, to counter the corrosive impact of any level of Sexual Harassment. I think it has to be personal. It has to be not in my army, not in my navy, not in my coast guard, not in my air force, not in my marine corps. It has to permeate through every senior leader, every noncommissioned officer from the Sergeant Major of each of those services on down and make sure we wont tolerate it from anyone, not in my army, not in my dod. Thanks again for calling this hearing and with that i yield back. Each witness will present his or her testimony at each member will have an opportunity to question witnesses for five minutes. We ask the witnesses to summarize their testimony in 5 minutes or less. Your written comments will remain part of the hearing record. I ask unanimous consent that subcommittee members be allowed to participate and ask questions after the subcommittee members have the opportunity to ask questions. There are also members of the house, members of the Armed Services committee, i would ask they too have the opportunity to ask questions, without objections so ordered. Let me welcome our first panel, Deputy Director of Sexual Assault and Response Office at the department of defense. Then we would hear from patrick wimpthe. You may begin. Patrick wempe. Ranking member kelly, members of the subcommittee and other members, good morning. Appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today. I have committed my life to supporting and caring for child victims and adult victims of violent crime. Since 2007 my efforts focused on prevention and response to Sexual Assault. I wish the circumstances were different and we were not here to discuss the loss of a servicemember, soldier, a daughter. Even with my 30 years investigating violent crime, supporting victims, counseling the wounded did not prepare me for situation like this. This touches us all in some way. But no one feels the loss more than the family. I can only hope the groundswell of support, love, compassion and inspiration that has come in the last few weeks in vanessas name can bring comfort to those who loved and knew her. For the record, no one should suffer but the family suffered. My organization, the department of defense, Sexual AssaultResponse Office establishes policy and conducts oversight, encourage greater reporting and power survivors to recover and prevent the crime. Harassment policy, investigation and military Justice System outside my portfolio we are keenly aware how these issues play a Critical Role in our work to prevent Sexual Assault and allow those who choose to make a report to do so without fear of retaliation. Although more work remains many of our efforts have resulted in certain powerhouses. The department has two key metrics in the Sexual Assault program. Estimated prevalence or how often it occurs is a number we want to go down and second the number of reports we want to go up which means more victims coming forward to connect with care and support services as well as the defenders appropriately accountable. The data tells us the estimated prevalence rates of Sexual Assault in the department of defense decreased by a third in the past 14 years and reporting of Sexual Assault is four times what it was in 2006. However, in our most recent activeduty survey we saw an increase in the prevalence of Sexual Assault, in addition in that year about 24 of women and 6 of men on active duty indicated experiencing behavior consistent with Sexual Harassment the year before being surveyed. We know we must do more. Fear of retaliation complicates our efforts to encourage greater reporting of misconduct and connect with restorative care. Not all behaviors perceived to be retaliatory, constituting retaliation that is actionable, all behaviors, actionable or not greatly undermine our efforts in this, incongruent with expectations for dignity and respect, to be blunt such behaviors are absolutely unacceptable and have no place in a military that is striving for greater respect and inclusion for all. Achieving and sustaining progress requires continuous institutional examination, reflection and evolution. We acknowledge the gap between where we are now and where the department desires to be. We are committed to working towards lasting, impactful, cultural change. Thank you for your support to the men and women who serve our nation. Look forward to your questions. Patrick wempe. Distinguished members of the subcommittee, good morning. As the Inspector General for Army Forces Command i appreciate the invitation to share information and insights from our inspection of the Sharp Program conducted at fort hood, texas june 20 ninth through july 3rd, 2020. Let me begin by expressing my sincerest condolences to the guillen family. I cannot fathom the acute sorrow and grief they feel with the loss of their daughter, what happened is tragic and should never happen to a daughter, sister or soldier. The team serves as the eyes and ears as commanding general Michael Garrett to meet expectations, we interact with members of the community in a variety of ways at all levels. In our role of inspectors we look at organizations and programs to assist them against existing guidance and organizational findings to identify trendss and systemic factors affecting our units and our people. Our assessments on decisionmaking, on june 20 seventh 2020, general garrett directed me, at fort hood. General garrett was consistent with this type of short notice inspection, as quickly and accurately as possible identify Critical Issues to help fort hood leaders understand the strengths and weaknesses of their institutional environment and recommend specific actions to make improvements. Six personnel conducted the inspection augmented by a sharp trainer and special counsel at fort bragg. This included a written survey of 225 soldiers from 12 battalions and 6 brigades, 14 Small Group Sessions and command Team Interviews with four battalions in two brigades gathering inputs from 200 soldiers and leaders. Additionally we conducted 16 sections with Sharp Program personnel from company to four level. With 450 personnel from across fort hood our inspection was not able to incorporate specialist guillens unit. We reschedule to it completed the inspection on july 1st but the tragic development the evening prior and early that morning cost us to reconsider our plan. I advised, general garrett concurred that due to those developments, impacts on soldiers, we should not complete the inspection of the unit at that time the we believe our findings reflect the climate across fort hood we acknowledge conditions within the 3 cr could differ somewhat between those of the rest, therefore general garrett directed our team returned to fort hood on july 27, 28, to complete our inspection of 3 cr. Time by my deputy and rig Sergeant Majors returning from four hood today and will continue the analysis of the collected data upon their return. At fort hood, with a Sharp Program needing to improve in certain areas but one which units general execute the standard. We observed consistent demonstration and Program Knowledge and awareness of reporting procedures, importantly most soldier said they would report harassed. Most would report if assaulted. Nearly all said that the leaders take it seriously. Our team can identify our team did identify areas needing improvement. A fewed soldiers indicated a hesitancy to report sharp incidents for several disparate reasons. Some soldiers express junior leaders in particular lack the practical experience to respond to a Sexual Harassment or assault incident. Extended hiring timelines for new Sharp Program personnel can result in episodic, episodically unfilled positions. Finally come some soldiers indicated that the sharp training they received is repetitious and unimaginative. Rt made several efforts to reinforce soldiers trust in the process and in the chain of command. Fort hood leaders were receptive and committed to making the necessary changes to address identified a shortfalls. In conclusion, no single inspection can be definitive.