FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 4, 2013
Contact: Meghan Roh, 202-224-2834 (Murray)
Contact: Liz Johnson, 202-224-3324 (Ayotte)
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: AIR FORCE OFFICIALS
TESTIFY ON SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL PILOT PROGRAM
Bipartisan Murray-Ayotte legislation would expand Air
Force program and provide trained military lawyers to victims of sexual assault
in all service branches
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing today
focused on efforts to stop sexual assaults in the military, Air Force Chief of
Staff General Mark Welsh praised the success of an Air Force pilot program that
provides victims with a military lawyer to assist sexual assault victims through
the legal process. A key provision in the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act,
introduced by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) on May
7, would expand the successful Air Force program to all service branches by
providing victims of sexual assault with a Special Victims’ Counsel – a trained
and certified military lawyer to assist the victim throughout the
process.
In response to
a question from Senator Ayotte, General Welsh testified that responses from victims regarding the
Air Force’s Special Victims’ Counsel pilot program have been “overwhelmingly
positive.” He testified earlier in the hearing that he intends to
recommend the continuation of the program.
ADDITIONAL
KEY EXCERPTS FROM TODAY’S HEARING:
Air Force
Chief of Staff, General Mark Welsh:
“Feedback from
the victims has been very, very positive. We believe the program is
working very well for us, we’re excited about where it’s going….I’m going to
recommend to my Secretary that we continue the program…”
“The
positive return rate is about 95 percent on these surveys, overwhelmingly
positive about the benefits of having someone who understood the legal process,
who was by their side supporting them primarily the entire time, who shielded
them from unnecessary questioning, who helped them understand the
intricacies and the confusion and the tax law of the legal system that
they're now in.”
“The
special victims counsel, in my mind, is one of the set of game-changing things
that can help us in this
area across the spectrum of issues related to sexual assault. Right now it's
the only one we have found that is really gaining traction.”
Colonel
Jeannie Leavitt, Commander, 4th Fighter Wing, U.S. Air
Force:
“The special
victims’ counsel…gives the victim a voice.”
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