[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6810]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       SUPPORT OF THE FORCE PROTECTION AND READINESS ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2011

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the Force Protection 
and Readiness Act of 2011.
  This legislation will provide greater protections for our service 
women and men stationed in the U.S. and abroad. Sexual assault is a 
pervasive and serious problem throughout all branches of the military.
  Over 65,000 servicemen and women have experienced some form of sexual 
assault or rape since 2002. In the Department of Defense (DoD) Annual 
Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, 
there was a total of 3,230 reports of sexual assault involving military 
service members as either victims or subjects. This represents an 11 
percent increase over FY 2008.
  In 2008, in nearly half of all sexual assault cases the commander 
took no action, and only 13 percent of reported cases were prosecuted 
and referred to courts martial. These figures are far below civilian 
prosecution rates, where 40 percent of those arrested for rape are 
prosecuted. We must ensure that there is zero tolerance for sexual 
assault in the military services.
  The Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services 
report released in December 2009 estimates that as many as 90 percent 
of sexual assaults go unreported. We hear too often that the reporting 
process may be as traumatic for the victim as the attack itself. In 
order to fully support and protect our troops, we must ensure the 
rights of sexual assault victims are upheld every step of the way.
  If a victim cannot access essential care for fear of stigma, public 
embarrassment, threats to her career, or because they just do not know 
what resources are available, the military will continue to lose 
valuable female and male soldiers. These service members put themselves 
in harm's way to protect us and our Nation from threats at home and 
abroad. This bill ensures they are protected when dealing with the 
horrible tragedy of sexual assault.
  The Force Protection and Readiness Act will expand the rights and 
protections of victims. First, it will create confidentiality protocols 
to protect victim rights and raise the propensity for a soldier to 
report their case by ensuring they receive adequate legal assistance 
and appropriate privileged communications with victim advocates. 
Second, it will ensure ease of base or organization transfer for 
victims or the offender, thereby decreasing fear of retaliation and 
bolstering victim reports. Third, it will require that each service 
branch employ highly qualified experts to train and advise JAGs to 
handle and try sexual assault cases effectively. Fourth, it will ensure 
more complete sexual assault data reporting to better track DoD-wide 
reports and case disposition. Fifth, it will establish in statute a 
universal hotline to facilitate victim reporting and provide victims an 
immediate connection with sexual assault response coordinators.
  We must put an end to what our former colleague and previous Army 
Secretary Pete Geren called ``fratricide.'' We must keep the pressure 
on DoD to eliminate sexual assault in the ranks.

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