As we noted last week, Senator Patty Murray (above), the Chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and Senator Kelly Ayotte are sponsoring a bill "Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of 2013." Senator Murray's spoke on the Senate floor about the bill (you can stream that here). As more people (all men so far) in charge of the military's assault and harassment prevention programs get arrested for violating them, Senators Murray and Ayotte's bill becomes all the more important.
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE CONTACT:
Murray Press Office
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
202-224-2834
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement in response to reports that a sexual assault prevention officer at Fort Hood has been charged with sexual misconduct:
"This is sickening. Twice now, in a matter of as many weeks, we've seen the very people charged with protecting victims of sexual assault being charged as perpetrators. It's an astonishing reminder that the Pentagon has both a major problem on its hands and a tremendous amount of work to do to assure victims - who already only report a small fraction of sexual assaults - that they are changing the culture around these heinous crimes. Secretary Hagel needs to act swiftly to reexamine sexual assault services across the Department to ensure that these disturbing betrayals of trust are ended. Its also time for Congress to move on legislation like the bipartisan bill that Senator Ayotte and I introduced last week that gives victims the protections they deserve to seek justice and that gives the Pentagon tools to deal with this growing crisis."
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