[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 17313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     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 to draw attention to the epidemic in 
our military of rape and sexual assault. Nineteen thousand women and 
men each year are raped or sexually assaulted in the military. 
Shockingly, almost one-third of female veterans of all generations say 
they have been sexually assaulted or raped while in the military, and 
more than 70 percent say they experienced sexual harassment while 
serving.
  In 2008 the Department of Veterans Affairs reported a total of 48,106 
female veterans and 43,693 male veterans screened positively for 
military sexual trauma.
  The prosecution rate of sexual assault is alarmingly low. Only 8 
percent of sexual assailants were referred to courts-martial or 
military court compared with 40 percent of similar offenders in the 
civilian system. This travesty is not being addressed, and I will 
continue to speak out on this floor until it is. Survivors can email me 
at [email protected] if they would like to speak out.
  Today, I would like to tell the story of one of the 8 percent that 
were prosecuted, the story of Colonel Michael Robertson, who commanded 
Fort Bliss' 31st Combat Support Hospital at Camp Dwyer, a military base 
and airfield in the Helmand River Valley in Afghanistan.
  Last week, Colonel Robertson was convicted by a military judge of 14 
charges, including having pornography on his government computer, 
sexually harassing three women, and assaulting five women. Eight women 
that served under his command testified at great cost to their careers 
and their privacy.
  Colonel Robertson routinely touched them without permission on their 
breasts, thighs, and buttocks, and encouraged them to look at 
pornography on his computer. Some testified the harassment occurred 
daily. Sadly, the military careers of these eight women who bravely did 
the right thing are almost assuredly destroyed.
  A major who filed a claim against Robertson said, ``I don't know if 
my career was in jeopardy for doing the right thing. Who in the corps 
who supported you is going to trust you in the future?''
  Despite repeated warnings, Colonel Robertson also emailed pornography 
to friends and female subordinates. A lieutenant colonel who was the 
chief nurse under Robertson's command said his command split the staff 
and created a toxic environment.
  What makes the defense's answer to all of these actions? That all of 
these jokes and the touchings were attempts to boost morale. How much 
more outrageous must the excuses become before we do something about 
it?
  So what is the punishment for someone in the military convicted of 14 
counts of assaulting and harassing his subordinates who he was assigned 
to protect? Is he sent to prison for being a predator? Is he stripped 
of his standing the military? Oh, no. Colonel Robertson was ordered to 
pay a $30,000 fine over 3 months and spend 3 months in prison. Colonel 
Robertson will retire from the Army when he finishes his sentence. His 
conviction won't affect his Army retirement or his Federal health 
insurance, and he will not be required to register as a sex offender.
  It doesn't take a military expert or a psychologist to figure out 
that sexual assault and harassment hurts not only the individual victim 
but undermines unit cohesion, morale, and overall effectiveness.
  The absolute failure to address this behavior is hurting our 
military. Like Colonel Robertson, the majority of assailants are older 
and of higher rank than their victims. They abuse not only their 
authority but also the trust of those they are responsible for 
protecting.
  The current military structure serves as a safe haven for sexual 
predators. They either are never brought to justice at all, or they 
receive a sentence like Colonel Robertson's that doesn't come close to 
matching their crime.
  That's why this week I'll be introducing a bill that would 
fundamentally change how sexual assaults are handled in the military. 
My bill will take the prosecution, the reporting, the oversight, the 
investigation, and the victim care of sexual assaults out of the hands 
of the normal chain of command and place the jurisdiction in the hands 
of an impartial office staffed by experts, both military and civilian.
  I've become painfully aware that if DOD continues to address this 
issue at its current pace, the epidemic of military assault will never 
end.

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