Rape in the Military

Floor Speech

Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise again today to highlight the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. This is the 14th time that I will stand on this floor to tell the story of yet another victim. Each has proudly served their country, each was violently attacked, and each was subjected to a system of justice that protects the perpetrators and punishes the victims.

Make no mistake, the United States military is the finest in the world. But even the Department of Defense recognizes that there is a deep-rooted problem of military sexual trauma that must be addressed. DOD estimates that there are some 19,000 soldiers who are sexually assaulted or raped each year in the military. It's a staggering figure. Sexual assault in the military is a cancer that is undermining readiness, unit cohesion and morale, and fixing this broken system will strengthen our military, not weaken it, as some have argued.

Today, I want to tell the story of Specialist Andrea Neutzling. Originally from a small town on the banks of the Ohio River, Specialist Neutzling served in the Army from 2000 to 2004 and then served in the Army Reserves from August 2004 until April 2010. She has served her country in Korea and twice deployed to Iraq.

In 2002, while serving in Korea, Specialist Neutzling was sexually assaulted by an intoxicated colleague outside the latrine. She decided to report the assault to her command, and her assailant was sentenced--sentenced to 5 days of base restriction. That was it.

In August of 2005, Specialist Neutzling was deployed to Iraq, and again one of her fellow soldiers sexually assaulted her. But after learning what ``justice'' meant for a previous perpetrator and not wanting to be seen as a troublemaker, she decided not to report the sexual assault to command. Instead, she simply slept on a cot, her rifle pointed toward the door for days. Several months later, she was deployed again to Iraq. After being in the country for 2 weeks, Specialist Neutzling was brutally raped and physically assaulted by two soldiers. The two soldiers were from a unit that was scheduled to depart Iraq, and their unit was being replaced by Specialist Neutzling's unit. The soldiers were drunk when they raped her and threatened to beat her if she struggled. Specialist Neutzling suffered serious bodily injuries from the rape.

Again learning what ``justice'' meant from her previous perpetrator, Specialist Neutzling decided not to report the rape to command. She didn't say a word about her rape for a week until another woman in her unit informed her that her perpetrators were showing a video of the rape and bragging about it. After learning this, Specialist Neutzling reported the rapes to her command.

So what happened this time? Her command told Specialist Neutzling that they did not believe that she had been raped because she ``didn't act like a rape victim'' and ``did not struggle enough.'' Her unit commander also told her that he decided not to disclose Specialist Neutzling's allegations of rape to the investigative services because he didn't want the men separated from their unit. If the men were charged, they would have to stay in Iraq or would have to go to Kuwait.

Additionally, Specialist Neutzling's command unilaterally downgraded her complaint of rape to sexual harassment. Her assailants were scheduled to leave in 2 weeks, and they left on time facing no charges.

In the current military chain of command structure, the commander did nothing wrong. Commanders can issue virtually any punishment, or in this case, no punishment at all. Command has complete authority and discretion over how a degrading and violent assault or rape under their command is handled. They are the judge and jury.

We need to end this unjust and horrific pattern, and we need to end it now. That's why I have introduced H.R. 3435, the STOP Act, because it's time. It's time to stop this horrific culture in the military.

Source