[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 90 (Monday, May 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3326-S3330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, 
of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1520

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise today to address the need to 
reform our military justice system.
  Just this month, the Department of Defense released its annual report 
on sexual assault in the military. That report and more than a decade 
of data on sexual assault in the military show a clear and disturbing 
trend. Reports of sexual assault have increased virtually every single 
year and remain at record highs, while prosecution and conviction rates 
have declined, including a shocking 10 percent point decline in the 
prosecution rate from last year. By every measure that you can imagine, 
we are moving in the wrong direction.
  Congress has given the military more than $1 billion--$500 million in 
fiscal year 2019 alone--enacted hundreds of provisions, and chartered 
special panels, Commissions, and advisory committees to address this 
problem. Not one of these steps has reduced the prevalence rate of 
sexual assaults within the ranks. We are still getting reports like the 
one we got from Fort Hood, which found that the world's largest Army 
base was ``a permissive environment for sexual assault and sexual 
harassment.'' We are right where we started. Nothing has changed.
  I have heard from too many survivors who have barely come forward in 
search of justice, only to have their cases outright declined by the 
chain of command and then face more harassment and retaliation for 
reporting their assailant. We owe it to our servicemembers to do more 
to prevent these crimes and properly prosecute them when they occur.
  Our bill, the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention 
Act, would ensure that, when these crimes are committed, justice is 
delivered. It does so by taking the same approach to these cases that 
the military takes in almost every other area of operation. It puts 
highly technical work in the hands of trained specialists.
  This bipartisan and commonsense reform moves the decision on whether 
to prosecute serious crimes to independent, trained, and professional 
military prosecutors while leaving misdemeanors and uniquely military 
crimes within the chain of command. In other words, it will let 
prosecutors prosecute and commanders command.
  By moving this work off of the commander's plate, it will empower 
command to focus on mission-critical activities and on rebuilding the 
trust among their ranks that we know is critical to military readiness.
  This bill is not political. It is about doing the right thing for our 
servicemembers who do so much for this Nation.

[[Page S3327]]

  The Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act has 
bipartisan, filibuster-proof support. It is supported by 63 Senators, 
including 42 Democrats, 2 Independents, and 19 Republicans, and the 
majority of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If we brought this 
bill to the floor today, it would pass.
  We have the legislation, and we have the votes. Now we just need the 
will to act. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in working to pass 
this bill as quickly as possible. As this week's Department of Defense 
report makes clear, our servicemembers do not have time to wait.
  I yield the floor to Senator Grassley.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the time has come for this bill to pass. 
After 8 years of Senator Gillibrand's work in this area, it proves that 
she is a Senator who doesn't give up, and it proves that she is a 
Senator who can bring bipartisanship to a city that needs more 
bipartisanship.
  So I, like her, call on my colleagues to pass this bill, the Military 
Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, by unanimous 
consent.
  I first joined Senator Gillibrand in advocating for this legislation 
in 2013, after truly horrifying reports out of the Pentagon about the 
rate of sexual assault and other criminal offenses going unpunished and 
a recommendation from a Commission on how to improve the system.
  Whether it is in the military or whether it is outside the military, 
a crime is a crime, and it ought to be punished. It shouldn't be 
overlooked, as so often is what happens in the military.
  We have been pushing for this bill ever since, despite promises from 
the Department of Defense that they had everything under control. We 
heard, time and time again, about new initiatives to stop sexual 
assaults and harassment. Yet things are worse today than when we 
started out.
  They haven't worked. In the most recent review, almost 21,000 
soldiers were victims of sexual assault. Only 4 percent of the cases 
went to trial, and 62 percent of those who reported sexual assault 
experienced retaliation--retaliation just because you shouldn't be hurt 
just because you are in the military and people can get away with it. 
In two-thirds of these cases, the retaliation comes from inside the 
chain of command.
  The Department of Defense has had more than enough time to try their 
way to fix this problem, and it is clear a new approach is needed. It 
is the same approach that Senator Gillibrand has been trying to get 
done in this body for the last 8 years, and we have always been put off 
because of these promises that were never carried out.
  By moving the decision to prosecute out of the chain of command, 
perpetrators of sexual assault and other serious crimes will be held 
accountable and should be held accountable. Survivors will have more 
confidence in the process. Retaliation will be less likely.
  This year, there is fresh support for the effort. The new Secretary 
of Defense, Secretary Austin, has indicated that addressing this issue 
is a priority. A Department of Defense panel of experts that was 
convened recommended taking the decisions out of the chain of command. 
The President has signaled his support, and the bill in the Senate has 
over 60 bipartisan cosponsors, including my fellow Senator from Iowa 
Joni Ernst.
  We have been waiting almost a decade. There is no need to wait any 
longer. I urge my colleagues to show unanimous support for protecting 
our men and women in military and allow this bill to pass. After 8 
years and a demonstrated need in the recent 2 or 3 years for 
bipartisanship, it is right here in this bill. It deserves to be 
handled as a standalone piece of legislation.
  I am glad that this bill earned the support of Senator Ernst, and she 
was key in getting the cloture-proof majority that we have for this 
bill
  I would now yield to Senator Ernst.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I want to thank my senior Senator from Iowa 
for being the lead Republican on this bill, and I am rising today as 
well to support my colleague in her request today for consideration of 
the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act.
  Our service men and women--all of them--are volunteers. They 
represent some of the best our Nation has to offer. They choose to 
serve. They swear to protect against all enemies, foreign and domestic, 
and to defend the Constitution. In this day and age, they face many 
risks, but they should not face the risk of sexual assault from within 
their own ranks.
  For years, the military has struggled to reduce the number of sexual 
assaults within the ranks. Yet we have seen little progress in 
defeating this scourge. The stories from survivors are heartbreaking: 
servicemembers who are attacked by their own teammates; servicemembers 
whose lives are turned upside down; servicemembers who are abandoned by 
their chain of command; servicemembers who receive no justice; and 
servicemembers who are left with the scars, often physical but always 
psychological, of a terrible experience.
  I know these stories not just from the retelling by survivors of 
sexual assault but from being a survivor of sexual assault myself. It 
is time we take new action to stop these attacks, to bring justice for 
the victims and to prevent these actions going forward.
  Our bill, with over 60 cosponsors, Republicans and Democrats from all 
political philosophies, and the endorsement of veterans groups, 
survivors groups, and individual servicemembers, does that. And our 
bipartisan bill takes steps to ensure the unit commander is still 
involved and aware of what is going on within the unit.
  This bill also puts in place measures for the prevention of sexual 
assault. It increases security on our bases and stations. It trains 
leaders from the top to the bottom on developing a better command 
climate. It reinforces training on prevention of sexual assault.
  If a foreign power were to attack any of our service men and women 
overseas, there would be a stampede of Senators coming to the floor and 
demanding action. Now I hear only the footsteps of those coming to stop 
us from consideration of something that would help prevent attacks on 
our service men and women by one of their own. It is time for action, 
and I urge my colleagues to pass this time agreement.
  Mr. President, with that, I yield to the Senator from Connecticut 
Senator Blumenthal.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Iowa, our 
colleague and friend, for those really eloquent and powerful remarks. I 
thank her and our other colleague from Iowa, who has been beside us 
from the very start of this cause 8 years or more ago. But most 
importantly, I thank my colleague from New York, who has been 
unstoppable, steadfast, and resolute in this cause. We are here today 
with that overwhelming, bipartisan support because of her advocacy, her 
eloquence, and power.
  Above all, we are here today because of the survivors and victims who 
have come forward with tremendous courage and strength. As much courage 
as it takes to be in the military--and I pay tribute literally every 
day to the men and women in uniform who defend our country, who raise 
their right hand, willing to give their lives--it is equally if not 
more difficult to come forward as they have done over these years and 
speak their truth to us. I have been so impressed by their bravery and 
by their truth-telling.
  I know as a prosecutor how difficult reporting this crime is in the 
civilian world, in universities, in the workplace. It is excruciatingly 
difficult to come forward and overcome the stigma and sometimes shame 
and the threat of retaliation. It is that threat of retaliation that we 
need to counter and stop because reporting of this crime is always 
difficult. Underreporting is a chronic problem in prosecuting it.
  So taking it out of the chain of command, eliminating the prospect of 
retaliation, implicit fear, even if it is not spoken--it may be 
unspoken--and that is what our purpose is. It is not just taking sexual 
assault out of the chain

[[Page S3328]]

of command of decision but also felonies, serious crimes that may be 
intertwined and interrelated with sexual assault, as they so often are 
in the civilian world, whether it is obstruction, intimidation of 
witnesses, assault, other crimes that may be related to it.
  So I believe sincerely that this Secretary of Defense is committed to 
ending sexual assault. I talked to one of the nominees for a prominent 
position in the Department of Defense; I believe he is firmly 
committed. I have talked to others who have been confirmed or who will 
be nominated; they are firmly committed.
  Let's make that commitment real and approve this legislation because 
the numbers have belied the promises. The results have betrayed the 
good intention, and now it is time for action.
  Thank you, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask 
unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority 
leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate Armed 
Services Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1520 
and the Senate proceed to its consideration; that there be 2 hours for 
debate, equally divided in the usual form; and that upon the use or 
yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the bill with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. REED. I reserve my right to object, Mr. President.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like to 
first engage in a colloquy with Senator Inhofe, the ranking member of 
the committee, on the process we will use to consider all the ideas and 
amendments I expect will be offered by committee members to address the 
investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and related crimes 
under the UCMJ in the annual Defense bill.
  I believe that the committee must start from a base that reflected 
the broadest consensus possible among our members on how best to move 
forward on this matter and on the recommendations of Secretary Austin's 
90-day Independent Review Commission, or IRC. I understand some members 
would prefer there be nothing in our bill on this topic, while others 
will feel that the IRC recommendations do not go far enough. This is 
the nature of compromise and why I intend to include the IRC 
recommendations on accountability in the base markup of the fiscal year 
2022 Defense bill, subject to amendment. I believe we will have a 
robust debate, and I commit to ensuring that every idea and amendment 
brought by our committee members is given due consideration and 
receives a vote if that is what the member wants.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank the chairman, Chairman Reed, that 
this important issue deserves a robust debate as we consider this 
year's National Defense Authorization Act. I would also like to thank 
Senator Gillibrand for her leadership and her tenacity on this issue.
  As Senator Reed referenced, I am one of those who do not support 
removing the commanders from the decision-making process. Nevertheless, 
I appreciate Chairman Reed's commitment to ensuring this issue is 
debated and voted on during the full committee markup of the NDAA.
  The NDAA markup process is unique in the Senate. We debate and 
resolve contentious issues every year. But the regular-order process is 
important and has served us well for many, many years--actually 60 
years.
  When it comes to important issues like this, we should not rush 
anything without making sure it is going to do the right thing by our 
servicemembers, and so I thank Chairman Reed for his action
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, let me also thank the ranking member for his 
comments. I agree that our committee has a long tradition of fulsome 
debate during committee markup of the annual Defense bill. It is a 
hallmark of our committee. It ensures that everyone's voice is heard, 
and it is, in my view, one of the reasons we have enacted the Defense 
Authorization Act for 60 consecutive years.
  But I also want to commend and thank Senator Gillibrand for her 
tireless advocacy for victims of sexual assault in the Armed Forces 
over the past 8 years, since she first introduced a version of this 
bill in 2013. As I announced this weekend, I agree with Senator 
Gillibrand that the time has come to reform how we investigate and 
prosecute sexual assault and other special victim crimes in the 
military.
  The best way to move forward on this issue is to ensure that all 26 
members of the Armed Services Committee have their voices heard and to 
consider this legislation in the course of the markup of the fiscal 
year 2022 Defense bill scheduled for July. Not only will this allow 
committee members, comprising over a quarter of the Senate, to have 
their ideas and amendments considered, as is our tradition, but it 
allows the administration to provide its input as well, as the 
Independent Review Commission that President Biden directed provides us 
its recommendations on accountability in the military justice system 
for the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and other 
special victim crimes. We must be able to analyze these recommendations 
collectively as a committee and then consider their value.
  With this in mind, as I said over the weekend, I intend to include in 
the chairman's mark of the fiscal year 2022 Defense bill, the IRC 
recommendations. It is my view that these recommendations provide the 
appropriate basis from which to consider the wide range of amendments 
and ideas I know our members will have.
  I want to stress that all amendments offered by Senators on the 
committee will be fully considered during the full committee markup. I 
intend to continue our tradition of following an open amendment process 
within the committee, and I know that is something the Presiding 
Officer is quite aware of since he participated in the committee in a 
very responsible way over many years.
  Further, while the first round of reform will focus on the issues of 
accountability, I hope and intend to incorporate the IRC's 
recommendations on prevention, climate and culture, and victim care and 
support into the bill as we move through the legislative year. I think 
these recommendations will be critically important to reducing the 
number of sexual assaults in the ranks.
  The focus of the legislation before us is adjudication. I think we 
all would prefer that prevention, command climate--all of these factors 
be such that adjudication is not necessary because the crimes, the 
incidents, the difficulties, the mental and physical anguish that 
victims incur have been avoided because we have taken the steps to 
prevent these actions from taking place in our military forces.
  With that, Mr. President, I would object
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, well, I just want to respond to my 
colleagues and chairman and ranking member. While I am extremely 
grateful for their leadership and their willingness to review and take 
on the IRC recommendations, the IRC recommendations are limited. It was 
only a 60-day review of the issue of sexual assault and sexual 
harassment only. It did not look at the military justice system 
overall. It did not have the benefit of 8 years of review, study, and 
passing related amendments and changes.
  Our committee has passed over 200--or nearly 250--different 
resolutions and changes to how the military deals with sexual 
harassment and sexual assault, to no effect.
  Deferring only to the IRC, which is an unelected panel that has only 
looked at this issue for 60 days, is not sufficient. Not only do we 
have Senators on the Armed Services Committee who have been studying 
this issue for 8 years, making recommendations and passing laws on this 
topic for 8 years, it would seem that to defer to a panel that has only 
looked at this issue for 60 days, to one issue, seems irresponsible.
  Second, I do not believe that issues of this weight and of this 
significance should be dealt with the committee only. The Armed 
Services Committee has been working on this issue for 10 years, and we 
have seen no improvement in the number of sexual assaults in the 
military and on the rate of prosecution and the rate of conviction. 
That is highly problematic.

[[Page S3329]]

  Also, when I asked for a vote on this measure over the last several 
years, I have been denied a vote on this measure on the floor by the 
chairman and the ranking member. So they have been unable or unwilling 
to allow me to have a vote, given all the bipartisan support we have 
had from the beginning.
  This bill has been bipartisan from day one. Senator Grassley has been 
on this bill from day one, as have several other Republicans. Today, we 
now have 63 cosponsors to this legislation--widely bipartisan--and more 
than half of the Armed Services Committee. We have established that the 
weight of this Senate, in a filibuster-proof majority, wants a floor 
vote on this and does not want to leave it up to the committee.
  The Armed Services Committee has lost their opportunity to claim sole 
jurisdiction over this issue by failing to improve this situation over 
the last 10 years. In fact, the 250 measures that we passed were all 
approved by various panels that took 60 days or 90 days or a year to 
review this issue, and we willingly took those recommendations and 
turned them into law.
  I, too, will willingly take the recommendations of the IRC board and 
turn them into law because they are good and thoughtful 
recommendations, but they are limited. By design, they were only 
allowed to look at two crimes--sexual assault and sexual harassment--
and by not looking at all serious crimes, you are not looking at the 
weight of the problem.
  We now have evidence that has been developed since 2017 about racial 
disparities and how the criminal justice system in the military works.
  Protect Our Defenders issued a significant report that can be found 
at https:\\www.protectourdefenders.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/
Report_20.pdf.
  Mr. President, that report will show that Black servicemembers were 
at least 1.29 times and as much as 2.61 times more likely to have 
disciplinary action taken against them in an average year across all 
branches from 2006 to 2015. These disparities largely did not improve 
and in some cases worsened in the most recent years covered.
  So we have other challenges within the military justice system, and 
now we have two areas where we have data that the military itself has 
collected. On sexual assault, we have 10 years of data, and now on 
racial disparities and racism within the military, we have data over 
the last 3 years, and that has to be considered as well.
  So the way to fix both of these problems is really simple: 
Professionalize the military justice system. Allow serious crimes to be 
taken out of the chain of command and given to trained military 
prosecutors who do not have bias and have highly specialized training.
  If we professionalize the military justice system, we will see 
justice done because there will be less bias in the system and there 
will be more professionalism. The combination of those two things, we 
believe, based on what military members have told us, will result in 
more cases going forward and more prosecutions.
  Second, we have the support of military justice experts. We have a 
letter from the National Institute of Military Justice:

       The National Institute of Military Justice recommends 
     transferring prosecutorial discretion not only for all sex 
     offenses, but also for all serious offenses--those for which 
     the authorized maximum punishment exceeds one year's 
     confinement. The dividing line is a familiar feature [in the] 
     American criminal justice [system].
       These changes will strengthen the fairness of military 
     justice and bolster public confidence in the administration.

  Similarly, we have a piece published in the Marine Corps Gazette by 
Capt. Lambert Jackson, who has prosecuted these cases. He served as 
trial counsel for the 2nd Marine Division and is complex trial counsel.
  He fundamentally understands the nature of these cases. He was an 
operational law attorney in the 1st Marine Division. He says:

       Felony prosecution determinations must be vested with 
     trained military attorneys rather than commanders; 
     disentangling commanders from the often-ugly legal 
     determinations for which they are ill-trained will allow 
     commanders to more effectively focus their attention on 
     preparing their units for conflict.

  While I appreciate the willingness to take the recommendations of the 
panel that General Austin has impaneled to look at just two crimes and 
while I agree that we should accept those recommendations--and I intend 
to push them into the mark through our personnel subcommittee--we also 
should look at the reforms that 63 Senators want done. We should also 
look at the reforms that are supported by more than half of the Armed 
Services Committee members. We deserve a floor vote, and we deserve a 
process that cannot be undermined by the committee.
  I have served on this committee for 10 years, and the chairman well 
understands that in conference, bills that have passed both sides have 
been taken out.
  You do not have to look further than what happened to the safety 
report language. It was passed in the House, passed in the Senate, and 
it is safe to report, by the way, that it was offered in the Senate by 
Senator Ernst and me in the Armed Services Committee because it would 
deal with retaliation. That bill was passed in the Senate, passed in 
the House, and taken out in conference. That is a problem.
  I do not want to expose this massive reform that is a generational 
reform to the whims of those who decide what gets taken out in 
conference. It is not acceptable to me to be watered down or reduced or 
minimized by those in conference. That is the risk you run by not 
allowing this to have a floor vote, which it deserves.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I want to take just a very brief moment and 
thank the chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services 
Committee because this is a very significant move that is being 
proposed by Senators Gillibrand and Grassley and those of us who are 
cosponsors of this legislation.
  It is time to act. It is time to act. If we can go back into previous 
years, I have been one of those nay-sayers. I have said to others that 
I was very torn about removing this decision from a commander's 
purview. I was torn. But we have not seen improvement when it comes to 
the areas of sexual assault and other serious crimes within our 
Nation's armed services. So it is time to take very bold action. It is 
time to take bold action.
  I do share those concerns as so eloquently stated by Senator 
Gillibrand that we are making a bold proposal that we believe now fit 
for those who want prevention, like myself, those who want to reform 
and improve and professionalize those prosecutors within the military 
system. We can bring that together and move it forward, but that is not 
going to happen if we see it watered down through the process of the 
NDAA.
  I would love to see this bill in its entirety passed. If that can 
happen through the NDAA, so be it. But as Senator Gillibrand just 
stated, we have worked on legislation before to see it come to fruition 
in the Senate through NDAA, but not have it passed and signed into law. 
So I do share those concerns, and I have not had assurances that we 
could pass the bill in its entirety.
  I would also ask that we take this up for consideration on the floor. 
I think it is that important to move forward. There are a lot of 
survivors out there who would like to see this move forward. I believe 
that now we also have a swell of military members who would like to see 
this bill in its entirety move forward.
  This body as a Senate--not just as Senate Armed Services Committee 
members, but this body as a Senate--this body as a Congress, we do have 
civilian oversight of the military and our civilian oversight takes 
into consideration those members, our constituents, who are asking for 
this change. Believe me, I am hearing from my constituents on this 
change.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Madam President, my colleagues have expressed overwhelming 
confidence in this bill, and I don't think that confidence will be 
eroded through more careful consideration by the committee. I think, in 
fact, the committee process will allow us to incorporate, examine, 
accept some and reject other provisions and recommendations by the IRC.

[[Page S3330]]

  It also, I think, will empower or allow us to consider something that 
we really have considered as consistently as the issue of sexual 
assault, and that is the indications that racial bias is such that all 
felonies must be taken out of the hands of commanders, not just those 
related to individual sexual assault or sexual harassment cases or 
other related sexual conduct or misconduct--I should rightly advocate 
this.
  Again, I think if we want to go ahead and make a fundamental change, 
committee consideration can only assist that change by getting broad 
viewpoints of those who are in favor of it, those who may be opposed 
to, and those who may seek changes.
  And if the committee reports to the floor, there will be opportunity 
on the floor, once again, to engage in debate and comment.
  I think we will try our best to come to a solution that is the best 
solution. I say that with a commitment to try my best to do so.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, one of the concerns I have is that 
we have been studying this issue and debating this issue for years.
  We have had several floor debates. We had two floor debates because 
we only got to vote on it twice. Both times, we had the majority of the 
Senate promoting this provision.
  What we have is a record of our allies already making this change, 
not for the issue of sexual assault in the military but for the issue 
of defendants' rights. The UK, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Australia 
all took serious crimes, a bright-line of felonies out of the chain of 
command because they believed that a defendant had a right to basic 
civil liberties. When they did so, they did not see a diminution in 
command control or the ability to have good order and discipline within 
the ranks. And they wrote to one of the many panels that we have had 
over the past 10 years--that information--to tell them that this is a 
change we have made. And the UK even said this was a change that our 
commanders basically didn't notice.
  So this is not some untested, out-of-the-box idea. This is an idea 
that is supported by the survivors, by veterans, by commanders, by 
experts in military justice, and by our allies. I believe that our 
servicemembers deserve a criminal justice system worthy of the 
sacrifices they make.
  Last, I do not think this is a moment to defer to the committee. The 
committee has failed survivors over the last 10 years, and I do not 
think it is in their purview to make this ultimate decision. When we 
had a vote on the ``don't ask, don't tell'' repeal--something that was 
similarly a generational change--it was done on a floor vote, an up-or-
down vote, and we had that vote twice. It was called twice because the 
first time Republicans refused to participate in the vote. We called it 
again, and we had the 60 votes we needed to overcome a filibuster.
  I believe this vote is also a once-in-a-generation vote that needs 
the review and the vote of the entire Senate because, not only does the 
Congress have the responsibility to oversee the military and the entire 
executive branch, but this whole body has the ability to oversee 
individual committees if they aren't going far enough when the moment 
demands it.
  I believe this is some such time. We are here for a time such as 
this. We should do our job. We should vote on this measure, and it 
should be an up-or-down floor vote.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. REED. Just a point of clarification, my recollection of the 
``don't ask, don't tell'' process was that it was, in fact, considered 
by the committee. The language that was ultimately adopted was the 
committee language; that because of objections to the issue, the NDAA 
was filibustered consistently and in order to try to break free, in 
terms of passing both pieces of legislation, the ``don't ask, don't 
tell'' was removed separately. That was after a complete committee 
process, as well as consideration of the NDAA on the floor.
  At that point, as Senator Gillibrand indicated, after two attempts, 
there were sufficient votes to pass ``don't ask, don't tell,'' but it 
was duly considered in the committee.
  Again, if the power of the ideas, the compelling data that they have 
is such, I don't know why they are concerned about allowing the full 
members of the committee, not just a subcommittee, to decide what 
should be in the final mark.
  In addition to that, I think in this process--and, in fact, I think 
you find it on every committee--ideas, perspectives, insights are 
gained that would otherwise be lost. What we are trying to do is follow 
the procedure of the Senate, which is to present to this floor a bill 
that has been carefully examined by people who have dedicated a great 
deal of their Senate service to the Armed Services Committee, and do so 
with the input of the Secretary of Defense because all of this has to 
be implemented by the Department of Defense. And at that point, if 
there are still difficulties and issues, then, the Senate floor is 
available for amendments.
  Again, I would suggest that we can make real progress in the 
committee. We can get legislation that is not only bipartisan but, 
hopefully, unanimous or nearly unanimous, and that would be a very 
powerful signal to our colleagues both in the House and to everyone 
else that this legislation will, in fact, become law.
  I yield the floor.
  Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I would simply state that we have 
already established that this is something that should become law. We 
already have 63 Senators on a bipartisan basis supporting this reform.
  This is not something that is new to the committee. We have been 
debating this issue for 8 years. I have asked for a vote every one of 
those 8 years and have only been given one twice. We had the majority 
of the Senate on both of those votes. So this bill has been 
filibustered for 8 years. This bill has been refused to be allowed to 
be part of the NDAA for a long time. This is not a new issue. These are 
not new facts. These are things that we have been wrestling with and 
failing. So I believe it is time this measure comes to the floor.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.