Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) told reporters she would consider delaying the confirmation of the new secretary of defense if lawmakers do not vote on legislation to reform the military justice system by the end of the year, according to the Associated Press.
Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) urged the Senate on Tuesday to revisit legislation to reform the military justice system, arguing that the military has failed to improve the manner in which it deals with instances of sexual assault since the original bill failed to pass the Senate earlier this year.
"It was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey himself who said, ‘A majority of the Senate of the United States expressed a lack of confidence in our ability to solve this ourselves. … We understand that just because Senator Gillibrand’s vote was defeated yesterday, doesn’t mean that a year from now it may not be reintroduced, and if we haven’t bee able to demonstrate that we’re, making a difference, you know, then we deserve to be held to the scrutiny and standard.’ We are here to say that the military has not been able to demonstrate that they made a difference and they need to be held to scrutiny and that standard this year," Gillibrand said.
Gillibrand pointed to examples, such as the case of former drill Sgt. Angel Sanchez, as evidence that the problem has not been adequately addressed.
In March the Senate voted on the Military Justice Improvement Act, a bill that intends to address problems of sexual assault within the military by moving sexual assault cases outside of the chain of command. It failed by five votes.
An alternative measure that reformed aspects of the military’s approach to sexual assault but left prosecutorial authority in the hands of the chain of command passed the Senate earlier this year. That bill was sponsored by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., M.O.).
Gillibrand, the chief sponsor of the current proposed legislation, refuses to let her version die, and said on Tuesday it should to be attached to the Defense Authorization or receive a stand-alone vote.