[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18695]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                2014 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

  (Ms. KUSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KUSTER. Mr. Speaker, as we approach the end of the calendar year, 
I am proud that both Chambers have finally come together to pass the 
2014 National Defense Authorization Act. This important bill will help 
ensure that the men and women of our armed services have the resources 
they need to do their jobs and keep our country safe.
  I am especially pleased that this legislation includes important 
reforms to help prevent military sexual assaults by better protecting 
whistleblowers and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. 
This critical reform is an amendment from legislation introduced by my 
Republican colleague from Indiana, Representative Jackie Walorski, and 
my Democratic colleague from California, Representative Loretta 
Sanchez, that passed the House with 110 bipartisan cosponsors and 
nearly 50 Members of our freshmen class.
  Because of our joint efforts working across the aisle, this is a 
great first step in further protecting our heroes in uniform who take 
the extra heroic step of coming forward to blow the whistle on military 
sexual crimes. It has been an honor to help build support for this 
legislation, and I urge my colleagues to continue to work to end sexual 
violence in our military.

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