Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), has announced that he will remove a measure from a proposed armed forces spending bill that would change the way sexual assault is handled in our military. The measure, written by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and sponsored by 27 other Senators, including four Republicans, would have given military prosecutors power over cases of sexual assault.
Mr. Levin will replace Ms. Gillibrand's measure with one of his own authorship requiring only that a senior military officer review a commander's decision on what to do about a reported sexual assault. This keeps the decision in the chain of command, adding only a final review--basically the same system that, even top military brass admitted to Congress in recent hearings, is not working.
what eye thynk: I have made much of the Republican War on Women; but I have to lay this attack squarely on the shoulders of Democratic Senator Carl Levin.
The Pentagon recently released a survey that found an estimated 26,000 assaults took place in 2012. 26-THOUSAND! Top military brass have testified on Capitol Hill in past months about the breadth of the problem and their inability to find a solution.
The Pentagon recently released a survey that found an estimated 26,000 assaults took place in 2012. 26-THOUSAND! Top military brass have testified on Capitol Hill in past months about the breadth of the problem and their inability to find a solution.
Apparently Mr. Levin thinks they'll find a way to solve the problem on their own--something there are no facts to support--and in the meantime, things should just go on as before. Mr. Levin also seems to think that 27 other Senators have no business attempting to change anything in the way sexual assaults are handled while the military tries to find its way.
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) and a co-sponsor of Ms. Gillibrand's bill said of Mr. Levin's announcement, "It's outrageous".
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) told Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, "To do things as they've always been done is not acceptable."
They're both right. Senator Levin's action is outrageously unacceptable.
No comments:
Post a Comment