Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Ms. HIRONO. Mr. President, I rise today to reintroduce the `I Am Vanessa Guillen Act' that addresses longstanding systemic problems in the way that the military responds to sexual harassment and sexual assault. I thank Representative Speier and Representative Mullin for reintroducing this important legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen disappeared from her Fort Hood, Texas, Army base in April 2020. Tragically, last June, Fort Hood officials confirmed that remains found near the Leon River in Bell County, Texas, were Vanessa's. Vanessa had told other soldiers at Fort Hood that she was being sexually harassed and confided to her family that the perpetrator was a fellow Army Soldier. A separate fellow Soldier was suspected of beating Vanessa to death with a hammer, and then, with his girlfriend, dismembering, burning, and burying Vanessa's body about 30 miles from Fort Hood. This other Soldier--the suspect in question--fatally shot himself when confronted by authorities for questioning off post. His girlfriend has been charged in federal court with conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

The Army finally acknowledged that Vanessa did report being sexually harassed by a superior in her chain of command in the months leading up to her murder. Vanessa's family has called for changes to how the military handles reports of sexual harassment and assault and has asked for a law to allow a third-party investigative team to look into reports of sexual harassment within the military. They are right to demand better from the military--as should we all.

Despite on-going efforts to root out the toxic culture of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military, it is still very much alive. And that's not just my opinion--the Army itself has confirmed that sad fact in recent months following their release in December 2020 of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee Report, which shockingly included as one of its findings that the Command Climate at Fort Hood has been permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault.

How long will victims of sexual harassment and assault continue to be afraid to report their abusers? It seems that the military justice system is rather the military system without justice where survivors of these crimes cannot have confidence to know that their reports will be confidential, taken seriously, and adjudicated properly.

We need to address this injustice now. An effective and strong military unit is one that relies on the trust between all members of that unit. Sexual harassment and sexual assault have no place in our military--they break that critical trust. It is a betrayal of every Soldier, Sailor, Airman and Marine if leaders do not do everything possible to eradicate the toxic culture which allows sexual harassment and sexual assault to fester and erode good order and discipline within the ranks.

To ensure our military readiness, we need to do everything possible to help ensure victims and survivors of these heinous crimes are supported, treated with respect, and not traumatized again, and that their perpetrators are held accountable in a military justice system they can trust. These are fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, who have volunteered to give the ultimate sacrifice when called upon. They should not have to fear their fellow servicemembers at home nor feel that when they raise concerns, they are not taken seriously.

Therefore, I am reintroducing the ``I Am Vanessa Guillen Act''. The provisions in this legislation will move prosecution decisions on sexual assault and sexual harassment cases outside of the chain of command to an Office of the Chief Prosecutor within each military service; create a standalone military offense for sexual harassment; establish trained sexual harassment investigators who are outside of the chain of command of the complainant and the accused to investigate all claims of sexual harassment; implement the recommendations of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee Report to strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the Army's Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) Program; require both DoD and the Comptroller General to conduct separate evaluations of the military services' sexual assault prevention and response programs; and establish a process by which servicemembers can make claims for negligence against DoD in the case of sexual assault or sexual harassment. I was quite pleased to hear that DoD's Sexual Assault Independent Review Commission recently released initial recommendations to the Secretary that tracked closely with several of the provisions in this legislation: moving prosecution decisions on sexual assault and sexual harassment cases outside of the chain of command to an Office of the Chief Prosecutor within each military service and requiring all sexual harassment allegations to be investigated outside the immediate chain of command.

These changes will encourage survivors to come forward to report sexual assault and sexual harassment, more effectively bring justice for survivors, and strengthen the ability of the military services to protect its most important resource--the people who wear the uniform of the United States.

We need to pass the `I am Vanessa Guillen Act' to fix a broken military justice system.

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