Unanimous Consent Request--S. 1520

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I have been to the floor several times with Senator Gillibrand not only to compliment her on the hard work she has put into this bill for so many years now--I think going back to 2013--but also to give my support to this effort as well. She doesn't need the compliments. She doesn't want them. But I say that she is entitled to the hard work that she has put into this bill, and it is time that we pass this legislation.

We are told that the bill will be considered by the Armed Services Committee as part of the NDAA. That is not a good reason to deny consideration as a stand-alone bill on the floor, which is what Senator Gillibrand has been to this floor numerous times to get done, and each time was objected to.

Now, the Armed Services Committee serves this Senate well for what it does on military policy, but when it comes to this particular piece of legislation, it is unfortunate that the Committee has a track record of gutting provisions that they don't like, even after the provisions receive the votes to be included.

On another issue, I want to recall what the Senate and House conferees did to a bill to prevent cuts to the Air National Guard. The provision was included in both the House and Senate NDAA but was quietly struck from the conference report. And bringing this bill separately on the floor of the U.S. Senate and getting it passed will prevent like things from happening to this sexual assault legislation.

So this legislation is needed now.

I think Senator Gillibrand has said it has 66 cosponsors, and that is exactly right, because there are far too many women and men in the Armed Forces being sexually assaulted and most never see justice. The rates of retaliation are too high, and prosecutions are too low.

Now, over the past month, I have heard favorable comments about attacking this issue from President Biden. I have heard an independent commission at the Pentagon speak to it. I have heard Secretary Austin speak to it. Now, whether they specifically support this legislation or not, they at least have admitted that sexual assault in the military is a major, major problem that needs to be dealt with in some way, but I am saying it will never be dealt with until we get Senator Gillibrand's legislation passed.

More importantly, it has the votes--66 votes in the U.S. Senate, for sure, and probably more when people have to put their vote on the line to be a stand-alone piece of legislation. It is time for the legislation to finally move forward, and I would urge my colleagues to allow it to proceed.

But as has happened before, we found out today is not that day. But that day should have been years ago, considering this problem is getting worse from year to year and, more importantly, the fact that it is such a big problem, and retaliation is such a big problem that you don't even get accurate statistics on the number of people that have been sexually assaulted, because they know if they go forward and report it, they will be retaliated against. It is a situation that we have dealt with for too long without the solutions that have been promised working, and so the only way to solve this problem is with Senator Gillibrand's legislation.

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