Hearing Of The Subcommittee For Military Personnel Of The House Armed Services Committee - Report Of The Defense Task Force On Sexual Assault In The Military Services

Statement

"Today the Military Personnel Subcommittee meets to receive the report of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services. The Task Force was created by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 as an extension of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies. Not to make a major issue here, but I do feel that it is important to note for the record that, due to a variety of factors that could have been dealt with more quickly by the Department of Defense and were certainly beyond the control of the witnesses before us today, the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services did not actually begin their work until August of 2008.

"Sexual assault is a complex problem that does not lend itself to a single hearing. Last year we set out to continue our examination of sexual assault in the military by starting a series of hearings on individual subjects so that members and witnesses could have in-depth discussions about various issues to build towards a comprehensive understanding of the problem. This in turn will guide our deliberations on what can and should be done next.

"The first two hearings of this series looked at victim advocacy and support as well as the prevention programs put in place by the Department of Defense. Our next hearing was to focus solely on prosecution of sexual assaults in the military, but since the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services released their report in December, we have decided instead to have this hearing fully examine their findings and recommendations.

"I want to thank the Task Force co-chairs for the depth, breadth, thoughtfulness, and quality of this report. This is exactly the type of well researched report we hope for when we create these task forces in law, complete with comprehensive and practical recommendations. I cannot promise that all of your recommendations for Congress will be implemented, nor that those that are implemented will be done exactly as you have put forth, but I can assure you that each and every one will be carefully reviewed and considered by this subcommittee.

"I do not want to steal the thunder of our witnesses, but there is a recurring theme in their report that needs to be mentioned from the outset: while the Department has done much is recent years to address sexual assault in the military, much more remains to be done. Thankfully, due to the work of this task force and others, we have a much clearer understanding of the problem. It is important that we make significant improvements to how the Department deals with sexual assault, and that we do all we can to avoid inadvertently making things worse in the process.

"Sexual assault within the ranks is antithetical to the trust and camaraderie that defines military culture. Any sexual assault undermines the moral foundation of our Armed Forces and does irreparable harm to unit cohesion. Hopefully today's hearing will help us chart a legislative course to make progress in our goal to eliminate sexual assaults in the military."

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