Lawmakers see own ideas in Pentagon’s new sex assault measures

Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.)
released a statement praising Hagel for expanding a Special Victims Counsel
across the services, something the senators’ legislation would do.

{mosads}Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.) said he was pleased that Hagel had
included uniform definitions of inappropriate relationships with trainers and
recruiters, a measure he had proposed.

Of course, the process worked in the other direction earlier
in the year, when Congress included a plan that Hagel had put forward to remove
commanders’ ability to overturn guilty verdicts.

In that instance, Congress must pass a law to make the
change. With Hagel’s directives Thursday, the Pentagon can immediately begin
implementing the new steps rather than waiting for Congress to pass the Defense
authorization bill, which won’t happen until at least the fall.

“While many of these reforms reflect legislation the House
has already overwhelmingly passed, I support Secretary Hagel for implementing
policy changes he is already empowered to make,” House Armed Services Chairman
Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) said Thursday.

Hagel’s new initiatives are coming as the Pentagon is facing
pressure from lawmakers over a proposal from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
to remove the decision to prosecute sexual assault cases and other major crimes
from the chain of command. She argues the major structural change to the
military’s judicial code is needed because victims have lost trust in
commanders to prosecute their cases and not retaliate against them.

Top military brass unanimously oppose Gillibrand’s idea, as do senators such as Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen.
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). They argue that commanders have to remain in the loop
to be held accountable for chancing the military culture when it comes to
sexual assault.

Gillibrand, who is seeking to win a majority of senators to support her legislation
when she offers it as an amendment to the Defense authorization bill, said Thursday
that the Pentagon’s new measures were steps forward, but “not the leap forward required
to solve the problem.”

“As we have heard over and over again from the victims, and
the top military leadership themselves, there is a lack of trust in the system
that has a chilling effect on reporting,” Gillibrand said.

McCaskill, who has led the opposition to Gillibrand’s proposal,
said that the Pentagon’s new measures were essentially a symbolic statement that military
leaders are committed to addressing military sexual assault.

“I think it’s wise for our military leaders to get on this
train rather than get run over by it,” McCaskill said in a statement. “Today’s
announcement has little bearing on the fact that Congress will soon mandate a
host of historic reforms — but it’s evidence that the Defense Department is now
treating this problem with the seriousness that we expect, and that survivors
deserve.”