[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 49 (Wednesday, April 6, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H2329-H2330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          RAPE IN THE MILITARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about an 
abomination, and I vow to speak about it every week until this Congress 
and this administration does something more than offer lip service.
  Read my lips: The military must end rape in this country, and those 
who commit such crimes must be brought to justice. The fact that women 
in the military are being raped and our government is turning a blind 
eye is disturbing enough. Even worse, it is not our enemies abroad who 
are committing these horrific crimes. It's American soldiers abusing 
many of our own, often with nothing more than a slap on the wrist and 
sometimes with an unbelievable promotion.
  We have a military culture that condones, and in some cases rewards, 
this type of abusive and violent behavior against female soldiers, who 
are now more likely to be raped by fellow soldiers than killed by enemy 
fire. This is a national disgrace, and the longer it goes unaddressed, 
Congress becomes an accomplice in these crimes.
  You know, we in Congress do something really well--we hold hearings, 
and then we do nothing. Congress has held 18 hearings in the last 16 
years on this issue, and nothing has changed. The Department of Defense 
estimates that over 19,000 servicemembers were raped or sexually 
assaulted in 2010; but due to fear of retribution and a failure to 
prosecute these crimes, only 13.5 percent are reported. These are 
Department of Defense figures: 19,000 soldiers raped in the military 
every year.
  So beginning today, I am going to tell these women's stories on the 
House floor, and I'm going to keep telling them and keep telling them 
until something is done about it.
  Earlier this year, 17 servicemembers, 15 of them women, filed a 
lawsuit against the Federal Government accusing the Pentagon of 
ignoring their own cases of sexual assault. Today, I want to tell you 
about one of those, Technical Sergeant Mary Gallagher. She deployed to 
Iraq in 2009 as a member of the Air National Guard. Her allegations are 
as follows. Now I'm warning you, some of the language is graphic.
  On November 5, 2009, while she was deployed in Iraq, a coworker 
offered her a ride home to her living quarters. When she accepted, 
instead of driving her home, he drove her to a remote area and tried to 
kiss her. Technical Sergeant Gallagher threatened to report him. He 
became angry and verbally assaulted her. She reported the incident to 
command, but they claimed that they could do nothing about it.
  On November 7, the coworker began to stalk Technical Sergeant 
Gallagher. He tried to break into her room, claiming she didn't know 
what she was missing. He telephoned her repeatedly. She again reported 
her coworker's threatening behavior to command but was

[[Page H2330]]

advised that they could do nothing because it was a ``he said, she 
said'' situation.
  Five days later, on November 12, the coworker sexually assaulted her 
in the restroom. He pushed her up against the left side of the wall, 
took his right hand and pulled her pants and underwear down and then 
used his hand to rub her vagina. He simultaneously ground his penis 
against her and talked about how much he was enjoying the assault.
  Technical Sergeant Gallagher described the incident this way to NBC: 
``I thought he was going to kill me that night. I felt completely 
isolated and alone and really scared. Here I was in the middle of a 
foreign country in the middle of a war.''
  Sergeant Gallagher did not report the violent assault immediately 
because command had advised her that nothing could be done after she 
had reported the coworker's threatening behavior before. Two weeks 
later, when she was asked for more details of the events on November 5 
and 7, at that point she reported the violent assault. Command's only 
response was to reassign the assailant and order him to refrain from 
any contact with her. She was then lectured by the base chaplain, who 
claimed that 96 percent of sexual assaults on women occur when drinking 
is involved. Technical Sergeant Gallagher had not been drinking during 
any of the assaults.
  This is a harrowing story, and it's one of 19,000 that must be heard. 
Technical Sergeant Gallagher fought for us. It's now time for us to 
fight for her.

                          ____________________