[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 3640-3641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             MARINES UNITED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago, I stood on this same floor and 
condemned the online bullying of U.S. Marine Corps servicewomen on a 
public Facebook page. Today I stand before you again, incredulous, 
angry, and sad, to say that absolutely nothing has changed.
  This weekend, news broke that the Department of Defense is 
investigating scores of enlisted marines for compiling thousands of 
naked photos of other marines--servicewomen--often surreptitiously, and 
distributing them through Facebook and Google Drive. The site in 
question is called ``Marines United,'' claiming a membership of over 
30,000 people.
  The photos are being tightly held due to the ongoing investigation, 
but all indications are they are just as repulsive as what we saw 4 
years ago.

                              {time}  1015

  The report contains samples of the comments posted about female 
marines, which are too obscene to read on the House floor. Online 
commentators also reportedly called for the rape of some of the marines 
portrayed in the photos, which is terrifying, given many of the women 
are identified by name and base.
  This is not about sex or fun or boys will be boys. This is about 
marines deliberately trying to degrade, humiliate, and threaten fellow 
marines. They encouraged stalking, distributed stolen intimate photos, 
and reduced their comrades to a collection of body parts.
  Well, I am here to say that women marines will not be treated like 
sides of beef. They are warriors and should be treated as such.
  As one female marine who recently completed the once male-only 
infantry training said: ``Right now I'm supposed to be able to trust 
every male marine. And with some of the stuff I see them saying about 
women, that's just not happening.''
  This cultural rot, which has clearly regressed even further since 
2013, harms our troops and our readiness. It is abundantly clear that 
this is not a few bad marines; rather, it is another example of a 
culture of rot. It is a blight that infects not just the ranks of the 
enlisted, but also the officer corps.
  Military leadership has utterly failed in their responsibility to 
protect their troops, punish those involved, and uphold the professed 
values of the Corps. That is why the survivors of this latest atrocity 
did not have the confidence to notify their superiors, for fear of 
retribution. It took a marine veteran and

[[Page 3641]]

blogger to blow the whistle, and for that, he has been threatened with 
death and his wife has been threatened with rape.
  Back in 2013, then-Commandant General Amos wrote to me saying, ``We 
share your indignation,'' regarding deplorable images on social media 
that denigrate women in the United States Marine Corps. They were 
words--just words. I fear that military leadership will say anything to 
placate Congress and an outraged public, but then do nothing.
  I recently had the opportunity to meet with Secretary of Defense 
James Mattis. I found him to be engaging, thoughtful, and committed to 
our troops. Secretary Mattis is also a retired marine.
  Secretary Mattis, I hope that you are deeply disturbed by what we are 
seeing within the Corps. I hope that you are listening to servicewomen 
like the one whose private photos were posted in the 2013 Facebook 
group.
  One left the service in 2015, and says that just knowing her pictures 
are still out there has silenced her. She said: ``I wanted to be a 
positive influence on the community. And this diminished me. It took 
away everything.''
  Secretary Mattis, this must change now. I call on you to hold your 
leadership accountable for these failures; to establish a culture of 
dramatic change. That means heads should roll.
  Talk is cheap. Action is what is needed for the integrity of the 
military. Survivors must be supported. That will only happen if those 
bad marines are drummed out of the Corps, with no exceptions.

                          ____________________