National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I thank the chairman for his remarks, and I thank the leaders.

I urge my colleagues to allow a vote on my amendment No. 4310.

We now know far more about the extent of the military sexual assault problem than we did last year. We have more data, we have reviewed more case files, we heard from more survivors, and it is clear that very little has changed despite the Department of Defense's persistent claims that things are getting better and that they are making progress.

When the Department of Defense estimates that 20,000 servicemembers were sexually assaulted this year--the same number as in 2010--that is not progress. When an estimate of 8 out of 10 military sexual assault survivors don't report the crime, that is not progress. When more than half of all retaliation cases--58 percent of them--are perpetrated by someone in the chain of command of the accuser, that is not progress. When the percentage of survivors willing to report openly has declined for the past 5 years, that is not progress. When 62 percent of survivors have experienced retaliation since 2012 and there has not been one prosecution of this enumerated crime, that is not progress. When it is confirmed by the Associated Press that the Pentagon blatantly misled the Senate in order to skew our debate, this is perhaps the ultimate time that they are not making progress.

Our military justice system is broken. It is failing our men and women who so bravely serve. No matter how many small reforms we make, as long as commanders with no legal experience are continuing to make these important decisions about violent sexual crimes, we are not going to solve this problem. Our commanders are great at winning wars and training troops. They are not prosecutors. They are not even lawyers. They are warfighters, and their job is to keep our country safe, not make legal judgments about whether to prosecute a rape.

Once and for all, let's take this decision to prosecute these crimes and instead give it to trained military prosecutors. Let's give our servicemembers a justice system that is worthy of their service. This is our chance, and I urge everyone to vote yes if we have a vote.

Mr. President, I now ask unanimous consent that if cloture is invoked for S. 2943, notwithstanding rule XXII, that Gillibrand amendment No. 4310, the Military Justice Improvement Act, be considered in order postcloture, and that it be in order to offer amendment No. 4310, and the Senate vote in relation to that amendment with a 60 affirmative vote threshold, with no second-degree amendments in order prior to the vote.

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