[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[House]
[Page 20263]
[From the U.S. 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 again today to highlight the 
epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military. This is the 14th 
time that I will stand on this floor to tell the story of yet another 
victim. Each has proudly served their country, each was violently 
attacked, and each was subjected to a system of justice that protects 
the perpetrators and punishes the victims.
  Make no mistake, the United States military is the finest in the 
world. But even the Department of Defense recognizes that there is a 
deep-rooted problem of military sexual trauma that must be addressed. 
DOD estimates that there are some 19,000 soldiers who are sexually 
assaulted or raped each year in the military. It's a staggering figure. 
Sexual assault in the military is a cancer that is undermining 
readiness, unit cohesion and morale, and fixing this broken system will 
strengthen our military, not weaken it, as some have argued.
  Today, I want to tell the story of Specialist Andrea Neutzling. 
Originally from a small town on the banks of the Ohio River, Specialist 
Neutzling served in the Army from 2000 to 2004 and then served in the 
Army Reserves from August 2004 until April 2010. She has served her 
country in Korea and twice deployed to Iraq.
  In 2002, while serving in Korea, Specialist Neutzling was sexually 
assaulted by an intoxicated colleague outside the latrine. She decided 
to report the assault to her command, and her assailant was sentenced--
sentenced to 5 days of base restriction. That was it.
  In August of 2005, Specialist Neutzling was deployed to Iraq, and 
again one of her fellow soldiers sexually assaulted her. But after 
learning what ``justice'' meant for a previous perpetrator and not 
wanting to be seen as a troublemaker, she decided not to report the 
sexual assault to command. Instead, she simply slept on a cot, her 
rifle pointed toward the door for days. Several months later, she was 
deployed again to Iraq. After being in the country for 2 weeks, 
Specialist Neutzling was brutally raped and physically assaulted by two 
soldiers. The two soldiers were from a unit that was scheduled to 
depart Iraq, and their unit was being replaced by Specialist 
Neutzling's unit. The soldiers were drunk when they raped her and 
threatened to beat her if she struggled. Specialist Neutzling suffered 
serious bodily injuries from the rape.
  Again learning what ``justice'' meant from her previous perpetrator, 
Specialist Neutzling decided not to report the rape to command. She 
didn't say a word about her rape for a week until another woman in her 
unit informed her that her perpetrators were showing a video of the 
rape and bragging about it. After learning this, Specialist Neutzling 
reported the rapes to her command.
  So what happened this time? Her command told Specialist Neutzling 
that they did not believe that she had been raped because she ``didn't 
act like a rape victim'' and ``did not struggle enough.'' Her unit 
commander also told her that he decided not to disclose Specialist 
Neutzling's allegations of rape to the investigative services because 
he didn't want the men separated from their unit. If the men were 
charged, they would have to stay in Iraq or would have to go to Kuwait.
  Additionally, Specialist Neutzling's command unilaterally downgraded 
her complaint of rape to sexual harassment. Her assailants were 
scheduled to leave in 2 weeks, and they left on time facing no charges.
  In the current military chain of command structure, the commander did 
nothing wrong. Commanders can issue virtually any punishment, or in 
this case, no punishment at all. Command has complete authority and 
discretion over how a degrading and violent assault or rape under their 
command is handled. They are the judge and jury.
  We need to end this unjust and horrific pattern, and we need to end 
it now. That's why I have introduced H.R. 3435, the STOP Act, because 
it's time. It's time to stop this horrific culture in the military.

                          ____________________