[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 187 (Wednesday, December 7, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8198-H8199]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. I rise again today for the 13th time to talk about a 
stain on the American people, a stain on the American Government. I'm 
talking about military assault and rape. I'm talking about the 19,000 
soldiers each year who are victims of sexual assault or rape in the 
military. Those are figures by the Department of Defense. Yet only 13 
percent will report because they know that if they do report, they will 
be summarily removed from service. In fact, 90 percent of them are 
involuntarily honorably discharged from the military after they report 
a rape.
  So what are we doing about it? Well, I have good news this morning to 
report. A few weeks ago, not far from here, a nonprofit organization, 
Protect Our Defenders, was born. It was launched to give voices to 
survivors of sexual assault in our military. More than 6,000 Americans 
have signed survivor Terry Odum's petition, whose story I've told here 
on the floor.
  Terry's petition demands Congress take the reporting of sexual 
assault and rape outside the normal chain of command. I imagine many of 
my colleagues have received emails and tweets or Facebook messages from 
their constituents about this issue. This is a movement, and we must 
address it. Our troops protect us, and we must protect them. Both 
Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree that we need to fix 
this system.
  Today, I'm going to tell you the story of Petty Officer Amber De 
Roche. Petty Officer De Roche served in the Navy from December 2000, to 
December 2005. In August of 2001, Petty Officer De Roche was raped by 
two shipmates in a hotel while on port of call in Thailand. One 
assailant ripped off Petty Officer De Roche's clothes and held her down 
while the other assailant raped her. The assailants repeatedly took 
turns holding her down while the other would rape her. After they had 
their way with her, one of the rapists threw her in the shower in an 
attempt to wash off the evidence. They then kicked her out of the room 
and onto the unfamiliar streets of Thailand.
  The following day, Petty Officer De Roche, with the help of a friend, 
went to get a medical exam. Petty Officer De Roche was bruised and 
injured to such a degree during the assault that the physician had to 
stop the exam and began to cry.
  Petty Officer De Roche decided to report her horrific experience to 
her command. What was her reward? She became the target of severe 
harassment, was imprisoned in the medical ward, and denied food. I know 
this sounds unbelievable, but this is going on in our military.
  When Petty Officer De Roche was released from the medical ward, her 
command refused to let her leave the ship and forced her to be on call 
24 hours a day without receiving any counseling to help her cope with 
having been raped. Petty Officer De Roche sought out the ship's 
chaplain and told him she was suicidal as a result of the rapes and her 
subsequent mistreatment. Petty Officer De Roche was finally permitted 
to leave her ship and serve out

[[Page H8199]]

the remainder of her duty on another ship.
  As if the horrifying assault and subsequent mistreatment of Petty 
Officer De Roche is not heartbreaking enough, her predators didn't get 
the punishment they deserved. In fact, something very different. 
Instead of court-martialing the predators, her command decided to 
handle the rapes with so-called nonjudicial punishments. The punishment 
required the rapists to admit their crimes--so they admitted them. They 
got 6 months docked pay and a reduced rank for only one of the rapists. 
Both of the rapists were permitted to remain on active duty. When 
command informed Petty Officer De Roche of the outcome, they also 
advised her to ``accept the situation'' and refrain from speaking out 
against the lack of punishment or accountability.
  Petty Officer De Roche's story, like many others, highlights a system 
that is unimaginable to so many of us and a system that is so clearly 
broken. In the military, a base commander has complete authority and 
discretion over how a degrading and violent assault under his command 
is handled. The commander can issue virtually any punishment for any 
reason. If they don't want a black mark on their record or their 
friends were accused or if they simply don't know the correct way of 
dealing with a case, they can issue just a simple slap on the wrist.
  My bill, H.R. 3435, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and 
Prevention Act, the STOP Act, takes this issue and puts it in the hands 
of others who can handle it appropriately.

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