Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014

Hearing

Senator SHAHEEN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I very much appreciate the work that you have done and this alternative amendment that you are going to be offering. I do hope it works because I know all of us on this committee believe that this is an issue that must be addressed.

I am not going to be voting for it, however. I am a cosponsor of Senator Gillibrand's provision and appreciate the work that she has done, appreciate the leadership that Senator McCaskill and others have shown on the committee.

I was interested that both Senator Gillibrand and you, Mr. Chairman, and I think Senator Reed and some others have referred to the zero tolerance policy within the military about sexual assault. Well, the fact is that that zero tolerance policy was actually established by the Secretary of the Navy, Lawrence Garrett III, in 1989, nearly 2 1⁄2 decades ago. And then the Tailhook incident took place in 1991, and there was outrage then too. There was a call on the chain of command to step up and to fix what was going on. On June 2, 1992, Secretary Garrett wrote a memo to his military leaders that said, while each individual must be accountable for his or her own actions, commanding officers have a unique responsibility for leadership in ensuring appropriate behavior and attitudes of those under their command.

That was a moment I think much like the moment that we are in now. And yet, we are here 2 decades later. Congress has made modest changes during that time to try and address the culture within the military that has created the circumstances around sexual assault. The military justice system has remained unchanged during that period. Sadly what is also unchanged is the existence of sexual assault in the ranks.

So I think the question that we have to ask ourselves--and I appreciate all of the discussion about the importance of the chain of command and commanding officers and the necessity that they be part of changing the current culture. But the fact is if we do not have a fundamental change in how we address this issue, are we going to be back here in 2 more decades having the same conversation because we still have not seen the culture change that needs to happen?

I hope that is not the case. I hope that all of the efforts that we are making and members of this committee are making now and our leadership in the military is making will make a difference. And as others have said so eloquently, it is important to us to make sure that it does make a difference, that we follow what is happening so that this issue, once and for all, is stamped out and is no longer a stain on our men and women who are serving.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman

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