Tell your Senators to stand up for service members
Today, we honor our service men and women by celebrating Veterans Day. We fly the
flag, we thank them for their service, and take a little extra time to appreciate
the sacrifices they’ve made so that we can be free and safe.
And while all of that is nice — it’s just not enough. Sexual assault in the military
is a glaring issue, and we are failing our service men and women every day the current
broken military justice system remains in place.
But guess what? This is the moment to change that. The National Defense Authorization
Act for fiscal year 2014 is currently scheduled to come to the Senate floor next
week and we need your help to ensure that the Military Justice Improvement Act is
included as an amendment.
This is a critical moment — write your Senators right now.
The Military Justice Improvement Act would reform the military justice system by
moving the decision-making on whether and how to prosecute serious offenses, like
sexual assault, out of the chain of command and give these decisions to trained,
experienced military prosecutors.
Commanders who don’t have legal training should not have the power to dismiss a case,
set aside a guilty verdict, or return an attacker to the ranks.
Until perpetrators see that they will be held accountable for their acts, the number
of sexual assaults is not likely to go down. And until survivors of sexual assault
have confidence in the military justice system, the number of reports of such assaults
is not likely to increase. This legislation works to instill that confidence.
We are just about 10 Senators away from passage — make sure your Senators do the right thing.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has fought for months to put the Military Justice Improvement
Act to a vote, and she’s rallied a bipartisan group of Senators who believe our servicemen
and women deserve better.
But there are too many who want to preserve the status quo. Senator Gillibrand needs
every vote possible for this act to become a law.
It’s time for us to take a stand for every service member, because the status quo is not okay.
Thanks for keeping it personal,
Thao Nguyen
Campaign Director
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