Senators blast military response to sex assaults

The Department of Veterans Affairs says about half of military sexual trauma-related claims are approved, but lawmakers say the rate should be higher. The House bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine, recommends that the department update its guidelines for dealing with disability claims related to sex abuse.

The legislation was passed by voice vote Tuesday and drew bipartisan support from leaders of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The bill does not stipulate exactly how the VA should revamp the claims process.

The Senate version lays out a clearer path that many supporters would like to see the VA follow. They want the VA to let the veteran’s testimony serve as sufficient proof that an assault occurred.

GEORGIA ANGLE

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., is facing criticism for his comments that the “hormone level” of young service members creates an atmosphere in the military where sexual assault can occur.

“The young folks that are coming into each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22 or 23,” Chambliss said at a Senate Armed Services hearing on sexual assault Tuesday. “Gee whiz, the hormone level created by nature sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur.”

Chambliss, who called the level of attacks intolerable, came under fire from a number of groups, including leaders at Protect our Defenders, a support group for victims of military sexual assault.

“It appears as if Senator Chambliss is not reading the reports out of the Pentagon about the epidemic of sexual assault in our military and minimizes what is ongoing failure of our military leaders to address the core reason behind the ongoing crisis,” Brian Purchia said.

Chambliss issued a statement late Tuesday that said: “Sexual assault is a deplorable crime that has no place in our military or in our society. I will continue work with my Senate colleagues and the leaders of the Department of Defense to ensure we solve this problem.”

Staff and news service reports

U.S. senators dressed down senior military leaders Tuesday in a hearing led by female lawmakers, combat veterans and former prosecutors who insisted that sexual assault in the ranks has cost the services the trust and respect of the American people as well as the nation’s men and women in uniform.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four-star chiefs of the service branches conceded they had faltered in dealing with sexual assault. One said assaults were “like a cancer” in the military.

But they strongly opposed congressional efforts to strip commanders of their authority to decide whether to level charges in their units.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled the chiefs about whether the military’s mostly male leadership understands differences between relatively minor sexual offenses and serious crimes that deserve swift and decisive justice.

“Not every single commander necessarily wants women in the force. Not every single commander believes what a sexual assault is,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said.

The committee is considering seven legislative proposals, including one introduced by Gillibrand that would deny commanders the authority to decide when criminal charges are filed and remove the ability of senior officers to convene courts-martial.

Dempsey and the service chiefs warned against making such dramatic changes. Removing commanders from the military justice process, Dempsey said, would undercut their ability to preserve good order and discipline in their units.

But Gillibrand defended her proposal, which has garnered 18 co-sponsors in two weeks. She said victims of sexual assault are reluctant to report crimes to their commanders because they fear their allegations will be dismissed and they might face retaliation.

Dempsey and the service chiefs told the committee they back Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s April recommendation to change the Uniform Code of Military Justice and largely strip commanding officers of the power to toss out a military verdict. That change is included in several of the Senate proposals, including Gillibrand’s, and is likely to be adopted by the House Armed Services Committee today in its version of the annual defense policy bill.

But Gillibrand and several other senators said that wasn’t nearly enough.

The committee’s Democratic chairman, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, opened the hearing by saying the problem of sexual assault “is of such a scope and magnitude that it has become a stain on our military.”

The military leaders didn’t dispute that assessment.

“Sexual assault and harassment are like a cancer within the force, a cancer that left untreated will destroy the fabric of our force,” Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army’s chief of staff, said. “It’s imperative that we take a comprehensive approach to prevent attacks, to protect our people and, where appropriate, to prosecute wrongdoing and hold people accountable.”

While acknowledging the problem and accepting that legislation is inevitable, the military leaders insisted that commanders keep their authority to handle sexual assault cases.

But female members of the committee noted that the military’s reporting process fails to recognize the seriousness of rape.

“This isn’t about sex,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.. “This is about assaultive domination and violence. And as long as those two get mushed together, you all are not going to be as successful as you need to be at getting after the most insidious part of this, which is the predators in your ranks that are sullying the great name of our American military.”