Congressman Ryan's Statement on New Pentagon Regulations to Combat Military Sexual Assault

Statement

Congressman Ryan made the following statement in response to new regulations issued by Department of Defense to combat sexual assault in the military; which included language from the Ryan-Granger Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013 to provide victims with expert counsel throughout the legal process:

I would like to thank Secretary Hagel for taking these important steps to combat sexual assault in our armed forces. I am pleased that Department of Defense reforms included providing survivors of sexual assault much needed legal counsel as required by my bill. I am optimistic that these services will maximize counsels ability to represent victims' interests. But there is no silver bullet to solve this large of a problem and more will need to be done before we start to see light at the end of the tunnel. I intend to continue to work tirelessly on this issue and utilize my position on the Appropriations Defense Subcommittee to finally bring this epidemic to an end.

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