Sexual Assault in the Military

Floor Speech

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Ms. AYOTTE. I thank my colleagues Senator Collins and Senator Mikulski for their leadership on this issue and for bringing this important discussion to the floor today.

I also thank Senator Murkowski, who I see in the Chamber as well, who has been a leader. Also, I thank Senator McCaskill, who has been a leader in the Armed Services Committee with me.

This has been an issue that has brought people together. It has brought people together for the right reasons. This is an issue that the women of the Senate have really driven, but it is important to understand that this is not a woman's issue. The issue of ending sexual assaults in our military is an issue for everyone. This is an issue about justice. This is an issue about fairness. This is about making sure that victims of crimes, both men and women, get the justice they deserve, the support they deserve in our military, and that they understand and appreciate that we want them to have a climate in the military where if they are a victim, they can come forward and receive the support they need and that they deserve.

Finally, this is also about the character of our military. We are blessed to have the very best military in the world, but when there is a plague of sexual assaults such as we have seen in our military, it undermines the very fabric of our military in terms of our readiness, in terms of our preparedness, and in terms of the cohesiveness of our units.

This is why it is not only important that we address and support the victims of these crimes, that we end sexual assault in our military, but that we have a climate in our military that says: If you are a commander and you do not stop sexual assaults, prevent sexual assaults, have a climate in your unit that says zero tolerance, this is not going to happen; if a victim comes forward in your unit and you don't handle this the right way, do the right thing, support victims, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable, you will be relieved from command.

That is the climate in which all of the reforms in this Defense authorization are brought forward, where we work together across the aisle with very strong provisions to support victims.

One of those provisions is a special victims counsel. Senator Patty Murray and I introduced a bill, stand-alone, to ensure, based upon a pilot program in the Air Force, that victims of sexual assault will actually now have their own lawyer, someone to represent them and their interests, to know that if they come forward there is someone looking out for them. That is one of the provisions contained in this Defense authorization bill, to ensure that every victim will have someone who stands for them.

In addition to that is retaliation. We have now made retaliation against victims a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. This is to say to victims that if they come forward and for some reason are retaliated against, then whoever does that will be guilty of a crime. This is sending the message to please come forward, we want to support you, and we want to be sure the perpetrators are held accountable.

In addition, I believe that if we want to solve this problem, the provisions in this bill that people have worked together on are very strong. I thank the chairman of the Armed Services Committee and the ranking member for their work together.

We are going to pass in this Chamber unprecedented reforms that ensure that the military understands this is not an issue anymore that can be left in the closet. This is not an issue that can be quietly spoken of where victims feel they can't come forward. The reforms in this bill are very tough. They support victims. They hold commanders accountable, and they make sure we do not see what we have seen in the past, things such as commanders overturning the verdicts. That will be done under this bill. That is not allowed anymore if this bill passes on the floor.

So I simply come to the floor today to say there is so much we have agreed upon that is going to address this issue in the military, and I thank all my colleagues on the floor today for their leadership. We will not let this rest. The one thing I do know, for those of us who serve on the Armed Services Committee and those who are here in the Chamber who do not serve on the Armed Services Committee but serve on other important committees, including the Appropriations Committee, despite the unprecedented reforms I believe we are going to pass on a bipartisan basis to end sexual assault in the military and to ensure victims are supported, we are not going to let this go. This is not going to be something where we pass these reforms and that is the end of the story. Every few months we are going to be asking: What have you done to implement these reforms? Every few months we are going to be expecting a report back to the Senate to ensure that what we all have intended to occur here--that is the right thing for victims of crime, that is the right thing for our military--is getting done.

So while I am very proud of everything we have done and we will do when we pass the Defense authorization bill on a bipartisan basis to stand against sexual assault in our military, this is not the end of the story. We will continue to pursue this to make sure that our military understands they are accountable, that victims of crime understand that while in the military they will be supported, that we will not let this go.

I thank the Chair and my colleagues for their leadership and everything they have done to support victims of crime and to end sexual assault in our military.

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