[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 4361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STOP MILITARY RAPE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to highlight the epidemic of 
sexual assault and rape in the military.
  Next week will mark the 1-year anniversary of my first floor speech 
on this issue. That day, I told the story of Technical Sergeant Mary 
Gallagher, who was raped by a coworker while deployed in Iraq. The week 
leading up to the rape, Sergeant Gallagher's assailant harassed her, 
stalked her, and attempted to break into her room.
  Though she twice reported the assailant's threatening behavior, her 
command did nothing about it. They called it a ``he said-she said'' 
scenario. Justice was not served.
  I've told the story of Army Specialist Blake Stephens, who was 
consistently assaulted and sexually harassed by the men in his unit. He 
reported the harassment to command, but no action was taken. Fellow 
servicemembers later sodomized him with a bottle; and the only 
punishment his assailants received was extra pushups. Justice was not 
served.
  Last week, I told the story of Marine Lieutenant Elle Helmer, who 
reported repeated sexual harassment by superiors, to no avail. The 
Marine Corps did absolutely nothing in response to the harassment. 
Lieutenant Helmer was later raped by another superior whose behavior 
went unpunished.
  Her command ultimately told her, You're tough. You need to pick 
yourself up and dust yourself off. I can't babysit you all of the time. 
No justice was served.
  Mary, Blake and Elle, like so many victims I've heard from, paint a 
picture of a military culture that treats sexual harassment and assault 
with silent acceptance, a culture that punishes victims for reporting 
the crimes committed against them.
  The military refutes this; yet evidence suggests just the reverse. 
The ``Hurt Feelings Report'' that stands beside me is a repugnant 
example of how rape and sexual assault has been trivialized, and how a 
victim was mocked in the military.
  It was supposed to be satire. The ``report'' was posted on the 
Facebook page of a female captain in charge of the Marine Barracks 
Protocol Office just a few months ago. It mocks fellow marines who file 
sexual assault complaints with a list of ``Reasons for filing this 
report,'' which include options such as:
  ``I'm a little b--------.''
  ``I'm a little p--------.''
  ``I'm a cry baby.''
  And ``I want my mommy.''
  And what did the head of protocol do when she saw this document? Did 
she report or punish the people who made it? Did she tell them there is 
zero tolerance for this behavior?
  No, she didn't do anything of the sort. In fact, the head of protocol 
wrote this caption to the image on her Facebook page: ``My marines 
crack me up.''
  It's no wonder that only 13 percent of victims of rape and assault 
are brave enough to report the crimes committed against them. The 
``Hurt Feelings Report'' and the Facebook response convey a toxic 
culture when it comes to sexual harassment, assault, stalking and rape. 
Victims have been told to ``get over it,'' or told that they were 
``asking for it'' based on the way they dress.
  One year ago, I promised to tell the stories of servicemembers who 
survived rape and sexual assault while in the military. I said then, 
and I promise you now, that I will tell their stories until meaningful 
action is taken to eliminate the chasm between the number of estimated 
sexual assaults and the number of prosecuted sexual assaults.
  I urge survivors to email me at [email protected] if 
they want to speak up.

                          ____________________