[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 10874-10875]
[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. Madam Speaker, for a number of months now I have come to 
this floor to tell the stories of men and women in the military who 
have been raped by other soldiers. As heinous as those assaults are, 
the greatest injustice is suffered after the assault when victims are 
doubted, debased, disrespected, and discharged from the military that 
they have so proudly enlisted in.
  Last night, I had a long conversation with an Army and Navy veteran, 
Terri Odom, who told me she dreamed to serve in the military since she 
was a little girl. She was so determined that between her junior and 
senior summer she went to boot camp--not to some playground area 
somewhere in her community, but to boot camp. After high school, she 
went to Sicily with the Seabees. She told me that she had never been 
happier, serving her country, seeing the world, even swimming in the 
Mediterranean. It was like Terri was living a military recruiting 
commercial.
  While there, she was befriended by an NCO 25 years her senior. He was 
a father figure to Terri, and she trusted him explicitly. When he 
volunteered to walk her home one night, Terri accepted the offer 
without hesitation. She told me that when he first grabbed her, she was 
more confused than scared. This is a young woman who was very proud of 
her service and had the utmost respect for her colleagues, particularly 
one who had such a distinguished career. This couldn't possibly be 
happening.
  Terri's story is graphic. I only tell you the details so you can 
understand how horrific the response has been from our military.
  Terri was raped repeatedly. Her abuser used pipes and other objects 
he found in her bathroom that was being remodeled. He cut her arms and 
vagina, then poured paint thinner into her wounds. He punched her with 
the full force of his 6-foot-4-inch, 270-pound frame. Terri, it should 
be noted, is 5 foot 3 inches. She fought back, even did some damage, 
but she was outmatched.
  She woke up in a bathtub covered in blood. She was missing teeth and 
fingernails, yet her first thought was that she couldn't be late for 
duty. She also knew that she could get medical attention and file a 
criminal complaint at the base. Surely, the Navy would take care of 
her. It turns out she was wrong about that, as she was about her 
rapist.
  Terri cleaned herself up, showered, showed up for duty, and reported 
the rape to her chain of command. She requested medical attention, but 
was told instead to take an aspirin and sleep it off. No one in Terri's 
chain of command allowed her to get medical attention. Instead, they 
told her to drop the rape story or her career would be over. Despite 
valiant efforts to stop it, Terri was eventually honorably discharged 
against her will, which is exactly what happens to 90 percent of 
military personnel who report rapes.
  The Navy lost a good soldier that day. The Navy also kept a rapist--
not officially, of course, because there was never an investigation. 
The reason? Because in the military, the authority to request one lies 
with the chain of command; but the chain of command is incentivized not 
to, because they are judged on how few instances of rape and other 
mishaps occur during their command. This is as true today as it was 
when Terri served. That is why Terri Odom has once again answered the 
call to service. She is here with me this morning to make sure her 
story is heard.
  This Nation must aggressively pursue rape charges in our military. 
Sexual assault cases must be taken out of the chain of command and must 
never be punished by nonjudicial remedies like a mere demotion in rank. 
Finally, a uniform is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. Military sex 
offenders must be entered into the same national database as those in 
the civilian world.
  Two decades ago, a young woman served proudly in the United States 
Navy and knew she was making the world a better place; then, a criminal 
and a criminally negligent system conspired to take it all away from 
her. But that young woman is back and she is not alone. Women and men 
from every branch of the military are speaking up. This is a problem we 
can fix. We only have to want to.

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