Bringing Justice to Soldiers

Floor Speech

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Mr. ESPAILLAT. Madam Speaker, passage of this year's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) serves as an act of reprieve--and justice--for every sexual assault survivor who has put their life on the line in the name of service for this country and has been left behind in the wake of injustice.

The NDAA contains the revised I am Vanessa Guillen Act. For the first time, the NDAA establishes the Office of the Special Trial Counsel which empowers and requires independent investigators to investigate allegations. That means for the first time, the NDAA takes the authority to prosecute sexual assault and harassment away from the military and gives it to independent military prosecutors.

The military justice reforms included in this annual defense policy bill are historic and the most transformative in our nation's history. It is the culmination of years of advocacy from military sexual assault survivors, their families, and supporters.

But let me be clear: my position on our nation's bloated defense budget remains unchanged.

I remain committed to working with my colleagues to address climate change, racial injustice, and guaranteeing that families across the nation receive the relief they need as we work to build back better from a global pandemic. These are all problems that no amount of military spending can remedy, and we must redirect federal resources to the people, to our future generations, and to our working-class Americans.

While I have historically voted ``no'' and plan to continue to do so--this was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally right generations of injustice against our nation's servicemembers in uniform, to finally bring some sense of justice to the family of Vanessa Guillen and countless other soldiers who are victims of assault. I refused to leave them behind once more.

With the passage of this year's NDAA, survivors of sexual assault will finally be guaranteed an independent military attorney to decide whether to prosecute and make other key, binding decisions in these cases--also ensuring that domestic violence, stalking, murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and other special victim offenses are taken out of the chain of command. We are one step closer to justice and protection for our soldiers.

My constituents can rest assured that I will continue my work to rein in defense spending and to invest resources in programs that promote peace, protect our planet, and provide the American people opportunities here at home.

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