[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3850-S3851]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BLUMENTHAL:
  S. 1041. A bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to afford 
crime victims' rights to victims of offenses under the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Armed 
Services.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the Military 
Crime Victims Rights Act of 2013. There are 26,000 victims of sexual 
assault in the military every year; at least last year there were that 
number estimated. But only a fraction, some 3,000-plus, were reported.
  This measure encourages more accurate and complete reporting of all 
kinds, by guaranteeing all victims of crimes in the military the basic 
rights that victims have in civilian courts under current law. These 
rights are not a matter of discretion, they are a legal right that 
victims of crimes in our Federal courts enjoy. My proposal is 
essentially to apply these same rights, guarantee them, in the Uniform 
Code of Military Justice.
  The Uniform Code of Military Justice fails to afford these basic 
rights. They are rights of decency and fairness to crime victims. It 
requires many of these victims to endure humiliating and insulting 
obstacles in their quest for justice, so it naturally discourages them 
from coming forward and reporting these acts, most especially the act 
of sexual assault.
  Those rights that I believe should be applied under the Uniform Code 
of Military Justice are, for example, the right to protection from the 
accused, notice and opportunity to speak at trial, the right against 
unreasonable delay in trial proceedings. Those are a few of the rights 
that would be guaranteed. They are standards of decency and fairness 
that are essential to effective prosecution and the goals of good order 
and discipline in the military.
  These fundamental rights are well-established in the civilian courts 
and well-esteemed by prosecutors and defendants as well as the victims, 
because they enable the justice system to function more fairly and 
effectively. Few would imagine going into a civilian court in a 
criminal trial without the statutory right to be protected from the 
accused, protection against physical threats or intimidation. Few would 
imagine going into a civilian court and being denied the right to 
appear and to speak when one's history, one's personal and sexual 
history is an issue in the trial. Few would imagine the denial of a 
right to be heard in the course of sentencing. Few would imagine 
unreasonable delay and permission for the accused to actually leave the 
country and be unavailable for the trial and thereby have that 
unreasonable delay. Yet in the military court, these events are routine 
and expected. This bill would correct that failing.
  There is no reason military sexual assault victims should be given 
less respect or fewer rights than civilian victims of the same offense. 
The key to deterring crime is prosecuting and punishing it effectively, 
which requires reporting by victims. More than reporting, it requires 
cooperation. We know for a fact that victims denied rights and respect 
will simply not report sexual assault in the military. They fear 
retaliation and discouragement of many kinds in reporting serious 
crimes of all kinds. If sexual assault is not reported, it cannot be 
prosecuted. If it is not prosecuted, it certainly cannot be punished or 
deterred.
  I became involved in this issue of victims rights in the military 
because of a constituent who came forward to me. I became involved in 
her case because she was denied basic justice. Her case was delayed. 
She was a victim of sexual assault in the apartment of an officer 
stationed in Rhode Island. She never had the opportunity to speak in 
court in a timely way. Her credibility was directly put at issue. She 
had no opportunity to rebut, in effect, the charges

[[Page S3851]]

brought against her. So often the victim is the one on trial. So often 
she or he is forced to relive that brutal, vicious predatory act of 
criminal conduct simply to bring charges and seek justice.
  She is seeking justice not only on her own behalf but on behalf of 
the Nation, because it is clearly the experience, as proven by solid 
evidence, that a sexual offender repeats that offense. The rate of 
recidivism is higher for sexual offenses than any other kind of crime.
  Last year I requested that the Department of Defense investigate both 
their failures to afford victims the right to be heard during public 
proceedings and victims' rights to be free from unreasonable delay and 
the lack of remedies available to victims. The report I received as a 
result of that request explained, in February, that the Department of 
Defense does not include the full list of crime victims rights in its 
directive because it references a repealed statute, one from 1990, 
rather than the more recent one passed by Congress, the United States 
Justice for All Act of 2004.
  That is why still today our military services, each of them, is 
operating on out-of-date and inadequate victim protection. The reason 
is not military necessity; it is simply ignoring the law that exists 
right now in spirit if not in letter. My bill would correct the letter 
of the law to guarantee these rights.
  I appreciate the investigation conducted by the Department of Defense 
General Counsel Robert Taylor and the military's commitment to revising 
their out-of-date directives and instructions, but we need a statutory 
remedy now, so people whose rights are violated will have a remedy, so 
they will have a recourse and relief when their rights are violated.
  This victims bill of rights has proved feasible and effective in the 
civilian justice proceedings involving the very same offenses.
  The rights are not novel or untested, they are well established and 
esteemed.
  I ask today for support from my colleagues in passing this measure. 
It is a basic, commonsense measure. It requires a military judge--just 
like their civilian counterparts--to take up and decide any motion 
asserting a victim's rights right away. It requires an ombudsman within 
the Department of Defense just like the ombudsman for crime victims' 
rights in the Department of Justice. It requires training for judge 
advocates and other appropriate members of the Armed Forces and 
personnel of the Department to assist them in responding more 
effectively to the needs of victims' rights. It requires trial counsel 
in a military case to advise the victim that he or she can seek the 
advice of their own attorney with respect to these rights.
  We have an opportunity and an obligation to stand for those who stand 
for us and defend us, and I refuse to disappoint them. I look forward 
to working on enacting this proposal with my colleagues in the Senate 
Armed Services Committee, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. 
military. And I would welcome the views of the response systems panel 
established by Congress when they have views they wish to impart.
  We have the best and strongest military force in the history of the 
world, in the history of our Nation. Our men and women in uniform 
deserve a military justice system worthy of their excellence.
                                 ______