Conservatives Join Senate Plan to Curb Military Assaults




Two conservative Senate Republicans joined a legislative push by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) to curb the growing problem of sexual assault in the military by ending commanders’ authority over assault cases in the military justice system.

The endorsement from GOP Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky bolstered interest in the measure on Capitol Hill after a version of the proposal was defeated last month as part of another defense bill.

The support from Messrs. Cruz and Paul marks a second time the Senate’s most liberal and conservative wings have joined forces on security issues. Mr. Paul earlier this year led an old-fashioned Senate filibuster to protest the growth in unmanned drone strikes by the U.S.

Recent military reports suggest that cases of sexual assault are at all-time highs, while the percentage of victims who file complaints represent a fraction of the incidents. The findings have sparked calls for action from lawmakers, who point to fears of reprisal as an overwhelming barrier to reporting assaults.

“I’m concerned that victims of assault may be deterred from reporting their assault if they have to report it to their boss,” Sen. Paul said during a press conference Tuesday.

Ms. Gillibrand’s bill would send sexual assault cases to trained military lawyers instead of military brass, a plan that has met stiff resistance from military leaders.

The measure was ultimately stripped from the defense bill in favor of a new stage of review by a senior civilian official.

Ms. Gillibrand said Tuesday that her new bill was crafted in response to feedback from soldiers who “didn’t trust the chain of command” and who felt “that they were retaliated against.”

Mr. Cruz pointed to successful efforts at similar reforms by the militaries of U.S. allies.

“A number of our allies, including Great Britain and Israel and Germany, had implemented [changes] similar to this, and the results in practice have been that reporting rates have increased,” said Sen. Cruz.

He added: “The fact that other professional militaries have been able to maintain discipline, maintain the chain of command, maintain effectiveness, maintain readiness, and at the same time, improve reporting and improve deterrence, to me, was persuasive.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/07/16...itary-assaults/