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

Hearing

Senator FISCHER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I certainly appreciate your leadership on this issue, and I will support the proposal that you have brought forward.

I would like to thank all the members on this committee who have worked on amendments, who have presented amendments. Senator Gillibrand, thanks to you. Senator Shaheen, Senator Ayotte.

I would especially like to recognize Senator McCaskill because I think you have brought forward from your experience as a prosecutor issues and a viewpoint that have been very, very helpful to me as we have heard testimony and as we have discussed this horrific issue that is before us. So thank you very much.

Sexual assault is unacceptable because it goes truly to the very core of our Armed Forces. And so, as I look around this table and I look at my colleagues, I know that each and every person here is going to continue to focus on this issue, and is going to continue
to monitor how the military is behaving as we move forward. That is a good thing because I think it states to the military and it states to the public, but especially to the victims, that we are concerned, we do not take this lightly, and that we will continue to be
there in the future because changes have to be made. And we need to solve this cancer that is taking place within the Armed Forces.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman

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