Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced the Protecting our Servicemembers through Proven Methods Act, which would direct the Secretary of Defense to collect comprehensive data on the causes of sexual assault and harassment, and domestic violence in the military:
“America’s servicemembers have answered the call to defend this nation and we must ensure they too are protected,” said Sen. Cornyn. “This legislation would improve the policies and procedures to keep our brave men and women in uniform safe and root out some of the causes of sexual assault and domestic violence in the military.”
“We’re improving the Department of Defense’s ability to protect Arizona servicemembers from sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence,” said Sen. Sinema. “I’ll keep working to ensure our servicemembers are treated with dignity and respect.”
“Our servicemembers are still falling victim to sexual assault and domestic violence, despite decades of efforts to combat it,” said Sen. Tillis. “We still don’t have sufficient data on why it continues to happen, which is why we introduced this legislation to enhance data collection within the Department of Defense. Understanding the causes and reasoning behind sexual assault and domestic violence will enhance the protection of our servicemembers by strengthening preventative measures.”
“I’ve long said we need to prioritize preventing sexual abuse in our military, and this bipartisan effort is an important step toward doing just that by ensuring the DOD both has the best and most comprehensive data and is held accountable to provide top-notch sexual assault prevention and response training to our servicemembers,” said Senator Ernst, a sexual assault survivor and the first female combat veteran elected to the U.S. Senate.
“Our servicemembers put their lives on the line when they choose to join the military, and they should never experience sexual assault or domestic violence as a result of that choice,” said Sen. Rubio. “This bill will help address and prevent these abuses within our military.”
“Our bipartisan bill to strengthen protections for military servicemembers against sexual assault and domestic violence is essential as too many of our nation’s heroes continue to be targeted while they serve,” said Sen. Ossoff.
Background:
This legislation would improve sexual assault and domestic violence prevention policies within the Department of Defense (DoD) by directing the DoD to collect data on the causes behind sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence in the military. This legislation would also require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to compare those causes with similar data from civilian communities, other federal civilian agencies, and public universities.