House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would force the release of Defense Department Inspector General investigations on misconduct by the military’s top brass.
{mosads}The measure, offered as an amendment during the panel’s mark up of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act, came in response to a series of embarrassing episodes revealed earlier this year by the Washington Post through Freedom of Information Act requests.
Speier cited the case of Martin Schweitzer, a commander with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, who called Rep. Renne Ellmers (R-N.C.) “smoking hot” in an email after meeting with her.
Speier also pointed to the case of Air Force Brig. Gen. David Uhrich, who kept a bottle of vodka at his desk on base at all times, and was also investigated for allegedly having an affair, which is banned under military law.
“No one wants to read about a military scandal in the paper” only because the information was leaked by a Pentagon source or learned about much later through a Freedom of Information Act request, Speier said.
She said terms like “skirt chaser” and “drunk” should not be associated with the U.S. military.
Speier withdrew her amendment without a voice vote being taken on it but she promised to re-introduce the measure on the House floor.