[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8734]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ENDING SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY

  (Ms. GABBARD asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. GABBARD. I was very proud after 9/11 when I enlisted in the 
Hawaii Army National Guard; proud to continue serving as a captain in 
that same unit; proud when I was a private that I went to Fort Jackson, 
South Carolina, in basic training and learned about the Army values of 
respect, integrity, and honor; proud to be a part of an organization in 
which strong, unbreakable bonds of trust exist between my brothers and 
sisters in uniform. But I am not proud that we as a country have 
allowed an epidemic of sexual assault in the military to continue to 
such great lengths today.
  I feel it is my responsibility to my brothers and sisters in uniform 
to take action to address this issue, and it is why I have introduced a 
bill to have a fair, independent, and transparent process to bring 
justice for these survivors and to prosecute those who are guilty.
  We've seen calls to action from communities across the country--
headlines from The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, and 
from my own local newspaper, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser--each calling 
for us as Congress to pass these measures. We must take action. We owe 
it to our selfless heroes and to our servant leaders who put their 
lives on the line every single day for our country.

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