Congressional Record, Volume 167 Issue 90 (Monday, May 24, 2021)

[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 90 (Monday, May 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3326-S3330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
The legislative clerk read the nomination of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure,
of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.

Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1520

Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, I rise today to address the need to
reform our military justice system.
Just this month, the Department of Defense released its annual report
on sexual assault in the military. That report and more than a decade
of data on sexual assault in the military show a clear and disturbing
trend. Reports of sexual assault have increased virtually every single
year and remain at record highs, while prosecution and conviction rates
have declined, including a shocking 10 percent point decline in the
prosecution rate from last year. By every measure that you can imagine,
we are moving in the wrong direction.
Congress has given the military more than $1 billion--$500 million in
fiscal year 2019 alone--enacted hundreds of provisions, and chartered
special panels, Commissions, and advisory committees to address this
problem. Not one of these steps has reduced the prevalence rate of
sexual assaults within the ranks. We are still getting reports like the
one we got from Fort Hood, which found that the world's largest Army
base was ``a permissive environment for sexual assault and sexual
harassment.'' We are right where we started. Nothing has changed.
I have heard from too many survivors who have barely come forward in
search of justice, only to have their cases outright declined by the
chain of command and then face more harassment and retaliation for
reporting their assailant. We owe it to our servicemembers to do more
to prevent these crimes and properly prosecute them when they occur.
Our bill, the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention
Act, would ensure that, when these crimes are committed, justice is
delivered. It does so by taking the same approach to these cases that
the military takes in almost every other area of operation. It puts
highly technical work in the hands of trained specialists.
This bipartisan and commonsense reform moves the decision on whether
to prosecute serious crimes to independent, trained, and professional
military prosecutors while leaving misdemeanors and uniquely military
crimes within the chain of command. In other words, it will let
prosecutors prosecute and commanders command.
By moving this work off of the commander's plate, it will empower
command to focus on mission-critical activities and on rebuilding the
trust among their ranks that we know is critical to military readiness.
This bill is not political. It is about doing the right thing for our
servicemembers who do so much for this Nation.

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The Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act has
bipartisan, filibuster-proof support. It is supported by 63 Senators,
including 42 Democrats, 2 Independents, and 19 Republicans, and the
majority of the Senate Armed Services Committee. If we brought this
bill to the floor today, it would pass.
We have the legislation, and we have the votes. Now we just need the
will to act. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in working to pass
this bill as quickly as possible. As this week's Department of Defense
report makes clear, our servicemembers do not have time to wait.
I yield the floor to Senator Grassley.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, the time has come for this bill to pass.
After 8 years of Senator Gillibrand's work in this area, it proves that
she is a Senator who doesn't give up, and it proves that she is a
Senator who can bring bipartisanship to a city that needs more
bipartisanship.
So I, like her, call on my colleagues to pass this bill, the Military
Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, by unanimous
consent.
I first joined Senator Gillibrand in advocating for this legislation
in 2013, after truly horrifying reports out of the Pentagon about the
rate of sexual assault and other criminal offenses going unpunished and
a recommendation from a Commission on how to improve the system.
Whether it is in the military or whether it is outside the military,
a crime is a crime, and it ought to be punished. It shouldn't be
overlooked, as so often is what happens in the military.
We have been pushing for this bill ever since, despite promises from
the Department of Defense that they had everything under control. We
heard, time and time again, about new initiatives to stop sexual
assaults and harassment. Yet things are worse today than when we
started out.
They haven't worked. In the most recent review, almost 21,000
soldiers were victims of sexual assault. Only 4 percent of the cases
went to trial, and 62 percent of those who reported sexual assault
experienced retaliation--retaliation just because you shouldn't be hurt
just because you are in the military and people can get away with it.
In two-thirds of these cases, the retaliation comes from inside the
chain of command.
The Department of Defense has had more than enough time to try their
way to fix this problem, and it is clear a new approach is needed. It
is the same approach that Senator Gillibrand has been trying to get
done in this body for the last 8 years, and we have always been put off
because of these promises that were never carried out.
By moving the decision to prosecute out of the chain of command,
perpetrators of sexual assault and other serious crimes will be held
accountable and should be held accountable. Survivors will have more
confidence in the process. Retaliation will be less likely.
This year, there is fresh support for the effort. The new Secretary
of Defense, Secretary Austin, has indicated that addressing this issue
is a priority. A Department of Defense panel of experts that was
convened recommended taking the decisions out of the chain of command.
The President has signaled his support, and the bill in the Senate has
over 60 bipartisan cosponsors, including my fellow Senator from Iowa
Joni Ernst.
We have been waiting almost a decade. There is no need to wait any
longer. I urge my colleagues to show unanimous support for protecting
our men and women in military and allow this bill to pass. After 8
years and a demonstrated need in the recent 2 or 3 years for
bipartisanship, it is right here in this bill. It deserves to be
handled as a standalone piece of legislation.
I am glad that this bill earned the support of Senator Ernst, and she
was key in getting the cloture-proof majority that we have for this
bill
I would now yield to Senator Ernst.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I want to thank my senior Senator from Iowa
for being the lead Republican on this bill, and I am rising today as
well to support my colleague in her request today for consideration of
the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act.
Our service men and women--all of them--are volunteers. They
represent some of the best our Nation has to offer. They choose to
serve. They swear to protect against all enemies, foreign and domestic,
and to defend the Constitution. In this day and age, they face many
risks, but they should not face the risk of sexual assault from within
their own ranks.
For years, the military has struggled to reduce the number of sexual
assaults within the ranks. Yet we have seen little progress in
defeating this scourge. The stories from survivors are heartbreaking:
servicemembers who are attacked by their own teammates; servicemembers
whose lives are turned upside down; servicemembers who are abandoned by
their chain of command; servicemembers who receive no justice; and
servicemembers who are left with the scars, often physical but always
psychological, of a terrible experience.
I know these stories not just from the retelling by survivors of
sexual assault but from being a survivor of sexual assault myself. It
is time we take new action to stop these attacks, to bring justice for
the victims and to prevent these actions going forward.
Our bill, with over 60 cosponsors, Republicans and Democrats from all
political philosophies, and the endorsement of veterans groups,
survivors groups, and individual servicemembers, does that. And our
bipartisan bill takes steps to ensure the unit commander is still
involved and aware of what is going on within the unit.
This bill also puts in place measures for the prevention of sexual
assault. It increases security on our bases and stations. It trains
leaders from the top to the bottom on developing a better command
climate. It reinforces training on prevention of sexual assault.
If a foreign power were to attack any of our service men and women
overseas, there would be a stampede of Senators coming to the floor and
demanding action. Now I hear only the footsteps of those coming to stop
us from consideration of something that would help prevent attacks on
our service men and women by one of their own. It is time for action,
and I urge my colleagues to pass this time agreement.
Mr. President, with that, I yield to the Senator from Connecticut
Senator Blumenthal.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Iowa, our
colleague and friend, for those really eloquent and powerful remarks. I
thank her and our other colleague from Iowa, who has been beside us
from the very start of this cause 8 years or more ago. But most
importantly, I thank my colleague from New York, who has been
unstoppable, steadfast, and resolute in this cause. We are here today
with that overwhelming, bipartisan support because of her advocacy, her
eloquence, and power.
Above all, we are here today because of the survivors and victims who
have come forward with tremendous courage and strength. As much courage
as it takes to be in the military--and I pay tribute literally every
day to the men and women in uniform who defend our country, who raise
their right hand, willing to give their lives--it is equally if not
more difficult to come forward as they have done over these years and
speak their truth to us. I have been so impressed by their bravery and
by their truth-telling.
I know as a prosecutor how difficult reporting this crime is in the
civilian world, in universities, in the workplace. It is excruciatingly
difficult to come forward and overcome the stigma and sometimes shame
and the threat of retaliation. It is that threat of retaliation that we
need to counter and stop because reporting of this crime is always
difficult. Underreporting is a chronic problem in prosecuting it.
So taking it out of the chain of command, eliminating the prospect of
retaliation, implicit fear, even if it is not spoken--it may be
unspoken--and that is what our purpose is. It is not just taking sexual
assault out of the chain

[[Page S3328]]

of command of decision but also felonies, serious crimes that may be
intertwined and interrelated with sexual assault, as they so often are
in the civilian world, whether it is obstruction, intimidation of
witnesses, assault, other crimes that may be related to it.
So I believe sincerely that this Secretary of Defense is committed to
ending sexual assault. I talked to one of the nominees for a prominent
position in the Department of Defense; I believe he is firmly
committed. I have talked to others who have been confirmed or who will
be nominated; they are firmly committed.
Let's make that commitment real and approve this legislation because
the numbers have belied the promises. The results have betrayed the
good intention, and now it is time for action.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask
unanimous consent that at a time to be determined by the majority
leader, in consultation with the Republican leader, the Senate Armed
Services Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 1520
and the Senate proceed to its consideration; that there be 2 hours for
debate, equally divided in the usual form; and that upon the use or
yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the bill with no
intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Mr. REED. I reserve my right to object, Mr. President.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. REED. Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. I would like to
first engage in a colloquy with Senator Inhofe, the ranking member of
the committee, on the process we will use to consider all the ideas and
amendments I expect will be offered by committee members to address the
investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and related crimes
under the UCMJ in the annual Defense bill.
I believe that the committee must start from a base that reflected
the broadest consensus possible among our members on how best to move
forward on this matter and on the recommendations of Secretary Austin's
90-day Independent Review Commission, or IRC. I understand some members
would prefer there be nothing in our bill on this topic, while others
will feel that the IRC recommendations do not go far enough. This is
the nature of compromise and why I intend to include the IRC
recommendations on accountability in the base markup of the fiscal year
2022 Defense bill, subject to amendment. I believe we will have a
robust debate, and I commit to ensuring that every idea and amendment
brought by our committee members is given due consideration and
receives a vote if that is what the member wants.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I thank the chairman, Chairman Reed, that
this important issue deserves a robust debate as we consider this
year's National Defense Authorization Act. I would also like to thank
Senator Gillibrand for her leadership and her tenacity on this issue.
As Senator Reed referenced, I am one of those who do not support
removing the commanders from the decision-making process. Nevertheless,
I appreciate Chairman Reed's commitment to ensuring this issue is
debated and voted on during the full committee markup of the NDAA.
The NDAA markup process is unique in the Senate. We debate and
resolve contentious issues every year. But the regular-order process is
important and has served us well for many, many years--actually 60
years.
When it comes to important issues like this, we should not rush
anything without making sure it is going to do the right thing by our
servicemembers, and so I thank Chairman Reed for his action
Mr. REED. Mr. President, let me also thank the ranking member for his
comments. I agree that our committee has a long tradition of fulsome
debate during committee markup of the annual Defense bill. It is a
hallmark of our committee. It ensures that everyone's voice is heard,
and it is, in my view, one of the reasons we have enacted the Defense
Authorization Act for 60 consecutive years.
But I also want to commend and thank Senator Gillibrand for her
tireless advocacy for victims of sexual assault in the Armed Forces
over the past 8 years, since she first introduced a version of this
bill in 2013. As I announced this weekend, I agree with Senator
Gillibrand that the time has come to reform how we investigate and
prosecute sexual assault and other special victim crimes in the
military.
The best way to move forward on this issue is to ensure that all 26
members of the Armed Services Committee have their voices heard and to
consider this legislation in the course of the markup of the fiscal
year 2022 Defense bill scheduled for July. Not only will this allow
committee members, comprising over a quarter of the Senate, to have
their ideas and amendments considered, as is our tradition, but it
allows the administration to provide its input as well, as the
Independent Review Commission that President Biden directed provides us
its recommendations on accountability in the military justice system
for the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault and other
special victim crimes. We must be able to analyze these recommendations
collectively as a committee and then consider their value.
With this in mind, as I said over the weekend, I intend to include in
the chairman's mark of the fiscal year 2022 Defense bill, the IRC
recommendations. It is my view that these recommendations provide the
appropriate basis from which to consider the wide range of amendments
and ideas I know our members will have.
I want to stress that all amendments offered by Senators on the
committee will be fully considered during the full committee markup. I
intend to continue our tradition of following an open amendment process
within the committee, and I know that is something the Presiding
Officer is quite aware of since he participated in the committee in a
very responsible way over many years.
Further, while the first round of reform will focus on the issues of
accountability, I hope and intend to incorporate the IRC's
recommendations on prevention, climate and culture, and victim care and
support into the bill as we move through the legislative year. I think
these recommendations will be critically important to reducing the
number of sexual assaults in the ranks.
The focus of the legislation before us is adjudication. I think we
all would prefer that prevention, command climate--all of these factors
be such that adjudication is not necessary because the crimes, the
incidents, the difficulties, the mental and physical anguish that
victims incur have been avoided because we have taken the steps to
prevent these actions from taking place in our military forces.
With that, Mr. President, I would object
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
The Senator from New York.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Mr. President, well, I just want to respond to my
colleagues and chairman and ranking member. While I am extremely
grateful for their leadership and their willingness to review and take
on the IRC recommendations, the IRC recommendations are limited. It was
only a 60-day review of the issue of sexual assault and sexual
harassment only. It did not look at the military justice system
overall. It did not have the benefit of 8 years of review, study, and
passing related amendments and changes.
Our committee has passed over 200--or nearly 250--different
resolutions and changes to how the military deals with sexual
harassment and sexual assault, to no effect.
Deferring only to the IRC, which is an unelected panel that has only
looked at this issue for 60 days, is not sufficient. Not only do we
have Senators on the Armed Services Committee who have been studying
this issue for 8 years, making recommendations and passing laws on this
topic for 8 years, it would seem that to defer to a panel that has only
looked at this issue for 60 days, to one issue, seems irresponsible.
Second, I do not believe that issues of this weight and of this
significance should be dealt with the committee only. The Armed
Services Committee has been working on this issue for 10 years, and we
have seen no improvement in the number of sexual assaults in the
military and on the rate of prosecution and the rate of conviction.
That is highly problematic.

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Also, when I asked for a vote on this measure over the last several
years, I have been denied a vote on this measure on the floor by the
chairman and the ranking member. So they have been unable or unwilling
to allow me to have a vote, given all the bipartisan support we have
had from the beginning.
This bill has been bipartisan from day one. Senator Grassley has been
on this bill from day one, as have several other Republicans. Today, we
now have 63 cosponsors to this legislation--widely bipartisan--and more
than half of the Armed Services Committee. We have established that the
weight of this Senate, in a filibuster-proof majority, wants a floor
vote on this and does not want to leave it up to the committee.
The Armed Services Committee has lost their opportunity to claim sole
jurisdiction over this issue by failing to improve this situation over
the last 10 years. In fact, the 250 measures that we passed were all
approved by various panels that took 60 days or 90 days or a year to
review this issue, and we willingly took those recommendations and
turned them into law.
I, too, will willingly take the recommendations of the IRC board and
turn them into law because they are good and thoughtful
recommendations, but they are limited. By design, they were only
allowed to look at two crimes--sexual assault and sexual harassment--
and by not looking at all serious crimes, you are not looking at the
weight of the problem.
We now have evidence that has been developed since 2017 about racial
disparities and how the criminal justice system in the military works.
Protect Our Defenders issued a significant report that can be found
at https:\\www.protectourdefenders.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/
Report_20.pdf.
Mr. President, that report will show that Black servicemembers were
at least 1.29 times and as much as 2.61 times more likely to have
disciplinary action taken against them in an average year across all
branches from 2006 to 2015. These disparities largely did not improve
and in some cases worsened in the most recent years covered.
So we have other challenges within the military justice system, and
now we have two areas where we have data that the military itself has
collected. On sexual assault, we have 10 years of data, and now on
racial disparities and racism within the military, we have data over
the last 3 years, and that has to be considered as well.
So the way to fix both of these problems is really simple:
Professionalize the military justice system. Allow serious crimes to be
taken out of the chain of command and given to trained military
prosecutors who do not have bias and have highly specialized training.
If we professionalize the military justice system, we will see
justice done because there will be less bias in the system and there
will be more professionalism. The combination of those two things, we
believe, based on what military members have told us, will result in
more cases going forward and more prosecutions.
Second, we have the support of military justice experts. We have a
letter from the National Institute of Military Justice:

The National Institute of Military Justice recommends
transferring prosecutorial discretion not only for all sex
offenses, but also for all serious offenses--those for which
the authorized maximum punishment exceeds one year's
confinement. The dividing line is a familiar feature [in the]
American criminal justice [system].
These changes will strengthen the fairness of military
justice and bolster public confidence in the administration.

Similarly, we have a piece published in the Marine Corps Gazette by
Capt. Lambert Jackson, who has prosecuted these cases. He served as
trial counsel for the 2nd Marine Division and is complex trial counsel.
He fundamentally understands the nature of these cases. He was an
operational law attorney in the 1st Marine Division. He says:

Felony prosecution determinations must be vested with
trained military attorneys rather than commanders;
disentangling commanders from the often-ugly legal
determinations for which they are ill-trained will allow
commanders to more effectively focus their attention on
preparing their units for conflict.

While I appreciate the willingness to take the recommendations of the
panel that General Austin has impaneled to look at just two crimes and
while I agree that we should accept those recommendations--and I intend
to push them into the mark through our personnel subcommittee--we also
should look at the reforms that 63 Senators want done. We should also
look at the reforms that are supported by more than half of the Armed
Services Committee members. We deserve a floor vote, and we deserve a
process that cannot be undermined by the committee.
I have served on this committee for 10 years, and the chairman well
understands that in conference, bills that have passed both sides have
been taken out.
You do not have to look further than what happened to the safety
report language. It was passed in the House, passed in the Senate, and
it is safe to report, by the way, that it was offered in the Senate by
Senator Ernst and me in the Armed Services Committee because it would
deal with retaliation. That bill was passed in the Senate, passed in
the House, and taken out in conference. That is a problem.
I do not want to expose this massive reform that is a generational
reform to the whims of those who decide what gets taken out in
conference. It is not acceptable to me to be watered down or reduced or
minimized by those in conference. That is the risk you run by not
allowing this to have a floor vote, which it deserves.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
Ms. ERNST. Mr. President, I want to take just a very brief moment and
thank the chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services
Committee because this is a very significant move that is being
proposed by Senators Gillibrand and Grassley and those of us who are
cosponsors of this legislation.
It is time to act. It is time to act. If we can go back into previous
years, I have been one of those nay-sayers. I have said to others that
I was very torn about removing this decision from a commander's
purview. I was torn. But we have not seen improvement when it comes to
the areas of sexual assault and other serious crimes within our
Nation's armed services. So it is time to take very bold action. It is
time to take bold action.
I do share those concerns as so eloquently stated by Senator
Gillibrand that we are making a bold proposal that we believe now fit
for those who want prevention, like myself, those who want to reform
and improve and professionalize those prosecutors within the military
system. We can bring that together and move it forward, but that is not
going to happen if we see it watered down through the process of the
NDAA.
I would love to see this bill in its entirety passed. If that can
happen through the NDAA, so be it. But as Senator Gillibrand just
stated, we have worked on legislation before to see it come to fruition
in the Senate through NDAA, but not have it passed and signed into law.
So I do share those concerns, and I have not had assurances that we
could pass the bill in its entirety.
I would also ask that we take this up for consideration on the floor.
I think it is that important to move forward. There are a lot of
survivors out there who would like to see this move forward. I believe
that now we also have a swell of military members who would like to see
this bill in its entirety move forward.
This body as a Senate--not just as Senate Armed Services Committee
members, but this body as a Senate--this body as a Congress, we do have
civilian oversight of the military and our civilian oversight takes
into consideration those members, our constituents, who are asking for
this change. Believe me, I am hearing from my constituents on this
change.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Smith). The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. REED. Madam President, my colleagues have expressed overwhelming
confidence in this bill, and I don't think that confidence will be
eroded through more careful consideration by the committee. I think, in
fact, the committee process will allow us to incorporate, examine,
accept some and reject other provisions and recommendations by the IRC.

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It also, I think, will empower or allow us to consider something that
we really have considered as consistently as the issue of sexual
assault, and that is the indications that racial bias is such that all
felonies must be taken out of the hands of commanders, not just those
related to individual sexual assault or sexual harassment cases or
other related sexual conduct or misconduct--I should rightly advocate
this.
Again, I think if we want to go ahead and make a fundamental change,
committee consideration can only assist that change by getting broad
viewpoints of those who are in favor of it, those who may be opposed
to, and those who may seek changes.
And if the committee reports to the floor, there will be opportunity
on the floor, once again, to engage in debate and comment.
I think we will try our best to come to a solution that is the best
solution. I say that with a commitment to try my best to do so.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, one of the concerns I have is that
we have been studying this issue and debating this issue for years.
We have had several floor debates. We had two floor debates because
we only got to vote on it twice. Both times, we had the majority of the
Senate promoting this provision.
What we have is a record of our allies already making this change,
not for the issue of sexual assault in the military but for the issue
of defendants' rights. The UK, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Australia
all took serious crimes, a bright-line of felonies out of the chain of
command because they believed that a defendant had a right to basic
civil liberties. When they did so, they did not see a diminution in
command control or the ability to have good order and discipline within
the ranks. And they wrote to one of the many panels that we have had
over the past 10 years--that information--to tell them that this is a
change we have made. And the UK even said this was a change that our
commanders basically didn't notice.
So this is not some untested, out-of-the-box idea. This is an idea
that is supported by the survivors, by veterans, by commanders, by
experts in military justice, and by our allies. I believe that our
servicemembers deserve a criminal justice system worthy of the
sacrifices they make.
Last, I do not think this is a moment to defer to the committee. The
committee has failed survivors over the last 10 years, and I do not
think it is in their purview to make this ultimate decision. When we
had a vote on the ``don't ask, don't tell'' repeal--something that was
similarly a generational change--it was done on a floor vote, an up-or-
down vote, and we had that vote twice. It was called twice because the
first time Republicans refused to participate in the vote. We called it
again, and we had the 60 votes we needed to overcome a filibuster.
I believe this vote is also a once-in-a-generation vote that needs
the review and the vote of the entire Senate because, not only does the
Congress have the responsibility to oversee the military and the entire
executive branch, but this whole body has the ability to oversee
individual committees if they aren't going far enough when the moment
demands it.
I believe this is some such time. We are here for a time such as
this. We should do our job. We should vote on this measure, and it
should be an up-or-down floor vote.
I yield the floor.
Mr. REED. Just a point of clarification, my recollection of the
``don't ask, don't tell'' process was that it was, in fact, considered
by the committee. The language that was ultimately adopted was the
committee language; that because of objections to the issue, the NDAA
was filibustered consistently and in order to try to break free, in
terms of passing both pieces of legislation, the ``don't ask, don't
tell'' was removed separately. That was after a complete committee
process, as well as consideration of the NDAA on the floor.
At that point, as Senator Gillibrand indicated, after two attempts,
there were sufficient votes to pass ``don't ask, don't tell,'' but it
was duly considered in the committee.
Again, if the power of the ideas, the compelling data that they have
is such, I don't know why they are concerned about allowing the full
members of the committee, not just a subcommittee, to decide what
should be in the final mark.
In addition to that, I think in this process--and, in fact, I think
you find it on every committee--ideas, perspectives, insights are
gained that would otherwise be lost. What we are trying to do is follow
the procedure of the Senate, which is to present to this floor a bill
that has been carefully examined by people who have dedicated a great
deal of their Senate service to the Armed Services Committee, and do so
with the input of the Secretary of Defense because all of this has to
be implemented by the Department of Defense. And at that point, if
there are still difficulties and issues, then, the Senate floor is
available for amendments.
Again, I would suggest that we can make real progress in the
committee. We can get legislation that is not only bipartisan but,
hopefully, unanimous or nearly unanimous, and that would be a very
powerful signal to our colleagues both in the House and to everyone
else that this legislation will, in fact, become law.
I yield the floor.
Mrs. GILLIBRAND. Madam President, I would simply state that we have
already established that this is something that should become law. We
already have 63 Senators on a bipartisan basis supporting this reform.
This is not something that is new to the committee. We have been
debating this issue for 8 years. I have asked for a vote every one of
those 8 years and have only been given one twice. We had the majority
of the Senate on both of those votes. So this bill has been
filibustered for 8 years. This bill has been refused to be allowed to
be part of the NDAA for a long time. This is not a new issue. These are
not new facts. These are things that we have been wrestling with and
failing. So I believe it is time this measure comes to the floor.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.