Transcripts For CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings 20131119 :

CSPAN2 Key Capitol Hill Hearings November 19, 2013

Offenses in 2012, only 880 faced command action for sex crimes. Of those 880, 594 faced courtmartial and 302 of those courtmartials resulted in convictions. So all in all, we have a situation in which 880 people faced any kind of discipline for a sex crime out of the universe of 26,000 potential incidents. Thats only 3. 4 of total incidents in which someone was held accountable and only 302, or 1. 1 , were actually convicted of a crime. That is not a good set of numbers, mr. President , and it sums up why this problem has been fest experg why we need action this year. But i think we also know that were not all here because of the statistics. Were here because of real people. Because each and every one of the numbers is a personal story of grief and we know them all too well. Whether it was a Sexual Assault scandal last year at Lackland Air Force base in texas where a dozen or more basic Training Instructors were accused of sexually assaulting female trainees, or the more reason case at the air base in italy where an air force general decided to reinstate a pilot without explanation, despite the fact that this pilot had been convicted of Sexual Assault charges in a courtmartial by a jury of his peers. I think of kimberly wellnick from mora, minnesota, someone maybe not everyone has heard of. She served with the marines in iraq. In 2005, she was handcuffed to a bed and assaulted by a fellow marine, her supervisor. She reported him. The end result . He was demoted in rank. Its clear that we have so much more to do in addressing this pervasive problem. It doesnt just hurt our men and women in uniform. It undermines the integrity of our armed forces, the integrity of our country, and thats why we cant let it continue. I know that everyone in the senate, and none more than the women in the senate, want action to change this intolerable situation. And action is what we are going to get. This years Defense Authorization act contains more than two dozen unprecedented reforms that will increase reporting of these crimes, provide support to victims, and help rebuild trust in the militarys handling of Sexual Assaults. As a former prosecutor who ran an office of 400 people, i learned over time that the outcomes are incredibly important. But just as important is how people feel about how they are treated in the system. Every year we did a survey of our victims of Domestic Abuse and of Sexual Assault, and one of the things that became clear over time, that just as important was how many months someone got in prison was whether or not the crime was explained to them, whether or not the process was explained to the victims, and whether or not the outcome was explained. We actually had people come back and say, i know that this case had to be dropped, or i know you couldnt bring charges in this case, but i felt this is a victim talking i felt that you treated me with respect and i understood that my case would still remain so that if another case came forward, my record would be there, my report would be there. And if the facts are better or if there was more evidence, you could go forward with it. That has led me to get very involved way before this past year in the issues of record retention in the military on Sexual Assault reports. When i first got involved in this, we learned the shocking fact that many branches of the military were destroying the records, sometimes in one year, sometimes in five years. And thats why senator Olympia Snowe and i got together and proposed changes to that system. We actually changed it so the records would be kept for decades. But the problem is that still in the law, despite two changes we have made over the years on this exact authorization act, the victim actually has to sign something and say they want the records retained. That would not happen in a civil court. Current law only requires retention of restricted reports and thats when a Service Member chooses not to take legal action at the request of the affected Service Member. This might seem innocuous but it is not. Its a loophole allowing for the continuing destruction of records, making it harder for servicemen and women whove been sexually assaulted to get v. A. Benefits for assaultrelated ailments or to seek justice in future. I did an event with a former marine who literally her case couldnt be brought because she was a marine, the records at the time were kept for five years. So when the perpetrator got out and raped two kids in californ california, that prosecutor in california was at least able to look at the records. Whether he could use them or not is somewhat immaterial. It simply helps to look at the records to know what happened and if there was a similar modus operandei. A Service Member whos been through a Sexual Assault should not be forced to make a farreaching decision on whether his or her report on a crime would be degained or not. Thats whats detained or not. Thats whats happening right now. This will ensure that all reports are stored in a secure and private manner for at least 50 years. It aalsit also contains a provif my bill that substantiated Sexual Assaults be noted in personnel records. This will help ensure that commanders are aware of potential repeat offenders. And it contains the language from my military assault prevention act and i thank senator senator murkowski for her support of this which expresses the sense of the senate that charges of rape, Sexual Assault or attempts to commit these offenses should be disposed of by courtmartial rather than by nonjudicial punishment or administrative action. We want offenders to be convicted and punished, not just given a slap on the wrist by commanders or allowed to shrink away without a slink away without a discharge. This years n. D. A. Also includes legislation that i introduced with senator mccaskill, whos with us here today, to add Sexual Assault and charges to the list of protected communications that can be investigated by the d. O. D. Inspector general. This is expanded whistleblower protection that will help ensure that Service Members are able to report Sexual Assault crimes without facing retaliation. These are just a few of the provisions addressing Sexual Assault in this bill. We also know that this bill does so much i see senator murray is here focused on victims rights and treating our victims with the respect that they deserve. Our country is fortunate that we have so many selfless servicemen and women who volunteer to serve their country. When they raise their hands to serve, we take on a responsibility to provide them the means to accomplish their mission and to ensure that they dont have to worry about whats going on behind the frontline. Sexual assault in the military betrays that responsibility. If in the course of their service our servicemen and women experience an assault that our military failed to prevent, then we owe them the basic decency of justice. I look forward to working on and passing this bill with my colleagues so that we can protect our Service Members once and for all. Thank you, mr. President. I yield the floor. Ms. Mikulski mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Ms. Mikulski youre seeing something pretty historic with over half of the women of the Senate Speaking on this issue. I know the press isnt covering it but i hope on cspan they are. This is a bipartisan effort with 30 reforms that weve agreed to and it is very, very impressive that were all here speaking up with one voice, the occasional difference in goals and i hope america is watching. Because this hasnt ever happened before. I now turn to the gentlelady from wisconsin for her remarks and then the gentlelady from missouri and then the gentlelady from Washington State. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from wisconsin. Ms. Baldwin mr. President , i rise this morning to speak about this Years National Defense Authorization legislation and the important reforms that are a part of the underlying bill to improve our militarys response to Sexual Assault within its ranks. The men and women in our Armed Services serve with courage in defense of our freedoms 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 that the system is broken and it is long past time that we fix it. I want to share just one story from a remarkable and brave woman named rachel who lives in lacrosse, wisconsin. 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 posttraumatic stress disorder. But rachel is a survivor and a true inspiration. She has turned her pain and courage into a platform for advocacy and service to her community. Working through her organization, survivors empowered through art to raise awareness about military Sexual Assault, through the power of art and storytelling, rachels story is a reminder that she is not alone and that we must do everything that we can to make sure that all victims of Sexual Assault have the support that they deserve. Thats why im heartened by the many important reforms included in the 2014 national Defense Authorization act and very grateful to the bipartisan coalition, in particular of women senators, who have worked so diligently to make this change happen. In particular, senators gillibrand and mccaskill have led the fight to make these improvements. Their efforts will make a real difference in the lives of countless americans by preventing Sexual Assault in the military and greatly improving our support to victims. However, i believe that more musmust be done to help victimsf Sexual Assault, and that is why im a proud cosponsor of senator gillibrands amendment which would improve on these important reforms by removing the prosecution of major crimes from the military chain of command. Instead, military prosecutors would determine whether to move a case forward which would eliminate inherent bias and conflicts of interest which currently deter victims from reporting Sexual Assault crimes in the first place. Im also filing an amendment to ensure that were including rotc programs in our conversations about military Sexual Assault. Just like we must ensure that our new officers from Service Academies meet our highest standards, we must do the same of those commissioned in rotc programs across america. I think the important improvements in this years defense authorition show the great promise of what can be achieved if we Work Together in a bipartisan way to get things done for the American People. I have to tell you, its a tremendous privilege to be a public servant. Its a special privilege to be the first woman elected from my state to the u. S. Senate. And one of the best parts for me is that i get to be a woman in the senate at a time when theres so many incredible other women in the senate to work wi with, to learn from, to look up to. I want to expressly thank my Senate Colleagues who serve on the Armed Services committee, senators mccaskill and hagan, shaheen and gillibrand, hirono, ayotte and fischer. I want to thank them for their work in guiding this process through their committee in such an effective and bipartisan way. My thanks, of course, go as well to senator levin and inhofe for their stewardship of these important provisions. Id like to thank senators mikulski and collins for organizing todays floor speeches. The cumulative total of these changes represent true progress in eliminating the tragedy and scourge of Sexual Assault in our military, and i once again thank my colleagues for their bipartisan work and yield back. A senator mr. President . The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mrs. Mccaskill i, too, want to thank my colleagues, senator mikulski and senator collins, for making an effort today to highlight the work that has been done on this important issue. I would be less than candid if i didnt say it has been frustrating to have one policy difference dominate the discussion of this issue over the previous few weeks without anyone even realizing the historic reforms that are contained in this bill, and so i welcome the opportunity to come with my colleagues, who may disagree on one policy issue but dont disagree on the goal and are taking a moment to recognize the work that has been put into this bill by not just the women of the Armed Services committee but also the men of the Armed Services committee. After hearings and some of us have spent literally hundreds of hours pouring over trial transcripts, spending time visiting with prosecutors, i think we have fashioned historic and amazing changes that are going to forever change the successful prosecution of rapists in our military and go further to protect victims. I come to this issue with a great deal of experience. I think it is not hyperbole or overstating it that i have stood in the courtroom prosecuting sexual predators more than any member of the United States senate. Hundreds and hundreds of cases i have handled, dozens and dozens and dozens of jury trials. No one in this chamber has intercepted with victims of Sexual Assault more than i have, and i dont think anyone has more of an understanding of the particularly complicated problems that these cases present, especially when there is a consent defense. And keep in mind that the vast majority of these cases in the military are consent defenses. You have two defenses in a Sexual Assault case. One is it wasnt me, and the other is it was consensual activity. So it doesnt take someone much to understand the principle that in this instance, most of these cases are going to be consent offenses. Why do i emphasize that . I emphasize that because it is relevant, it is particularly relevant to the reforms that we embrace in the underlying bill. The time period in which a victim decides that she is going to come forward out of the shadows and hold her perpetrator accountable is invariably very close in time to the time of report. It is how she is treated at that juncture, more so than anything else. More so than whether she has been victimized in the military or whether she has been victimized on the streets of your hometown. She is coming forward with the most personally painful moment of her life. Now, keep in mind that if youre coming forward with the most personally painful moment of your life, how complicated that gets if you know the defense is going to be that you wanted it, that it was consensual. And then it is even more difficult. That is why the vast majority of these crimes in our country are never reported, ever. It doesnt matter whether were talking military or civilian. So how can we at that critical moment make sure that victim gets the help and support she or he needs to do the unthinkable, and that is to lay herself or himself bare to the public about what has happened. Well, the way you do that is through the reforms that my colleague, senator murray stressed, and that we have incorporated in this bill, and that is that every single victim gets their own lawyer. I dont think many members understand how extraordinary that is. That reform alone will make our military the most victimfriendly criminal Justice System in the world. In no other criminal Justice System anywhere, civilian, military, United States, our allies does a victim get that kind of support, and thats whats underlined in these reforms. We already know it works because its been a Pilot Program in the air force, and unlike those who say reporting will never go up unless we make another policy change, reporting is spiking in our military. Up 50 just this year. And that is because the victims are getting the word not only do you not only have to report the chain of command, you are going to get the resources, support and help and knowledge you need to navigate the choppiest waters, emotionally and personally, that you will ever encounter. So not only have we done that in the underlying bill, we also have done other things, like stripping commanders of their ability to abuse this system, by changing the outcome of a trial. Very important. Making the crime of retaliation a reality in the military. It should be actionable in a criminal court within the military if you retaliate against a victim who reports. And now not only will the victim know that retaliation have a crime, not only will the unit know retaliation is a crime, the victim has her own lawyer who can help press those charges if that occurs. I me

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