Senator Gillibrand continues to work hard each day to try to get her military sexual assault legislation bill passed in Congress which would change how sexual assaults are handled in the military. Senator Gillibrand said on her facebook page how she hopes to bring her bill The Military Justice Improvement Act to the Senate floor for a vote as early as this week. She stated further in a quote “This is not a Democratic or Republican idea it’s just the right idea for all the brave men and women who serve our military.” Senator Gillibrand has support from members of the Senate with a variety of political ideologies and views. She has support from fellow liberals Barbara Boxer, Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and has recently gotten support from Republicans, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul from Kentucky and even a Senator as far right as Ted Cruz from Texas. There was also an opinion piece written in Politico this week about a female Trina McDonald who had experienced and seen sexual assaults when she served in the military from 1988 to 1990. McDonald stated that when she was seventeen years old she was raped for nine months by her military officers while being stationed in Alaska. She was told if she even spoke about being raped she would be murdered and her life would be over. McDonald is fighting for Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill to be passed because it takes how sexual assaults are handled outside the military. McDonald mentions in her case this would have made a big difference because she could not report her sexual assault because the very people who were assaulting and raping her countless times were her commanders and bosses in the military. She says further in a quote “More than half a million members of our military have been sexually assaulted in the 25 years since she was attacked.” She also states that she believes members of our military deserve justice and to be able to be heard without the fear she had when she was a victim. McDonald urges Senators who are still deciding how to vote on Senator Gillibrand’s bill to vote in favor of it and to support all our men and women in uniform who fought for our country. This is an ongoing issue, and according to a Huffington Post article only just over 10 percent of sexual assaults in the military go reported, and the number of sexual assaults is increasing in number by 46%.
Senator Gillibrand said in a video that she is positive she will get enough votes to pass her bill which is 60 votes. Currently 47 Senator’s support her bill and 30 Senators are still undecided according to the Huffington Post. Senator Gillibrand will face some hurdles even with this support and if she gets enough votes. The Pentagon does not support her bill because it takes the power of reporting sexual assaults outside the military. Senator Gillibrand said that this is the only way to fix this issue because then most of these sexual assaults would be reported. Also members of the military will know they can’t get away with these acts and it will end the violence and fear in these cases. Several Senators on all sides of the aisle threatened to use their power to filibuster when it comes on the Senate floor for a vote. Senators who are saying they will filibuster are South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan and Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill from Missouri. Although the Senate majority leader Harry Reid did not state where he stands on this issue yet, Senator Gillibrand thinks he will be a “champion” in the end. Senator Gillibrand said she is not worried about passing this bill because she has support from members of both parties, and in the last couple of months she has personally tried to persuade each Senator to support her bill.
This is clearly a huge week for Senator Gillibrand because it is finally the vote on her bill that she has worked many hours on for many months. She has many positives working for her, such as support from Republicans like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins who branch out from more conservative to moderate members. However, she does have things working against her, such as the Pentagon not supporting her bill and members of her own party even threatening to filibuster her bill when it is voted on. It should be interesting to see what happens next week because this could mean a lot for her political future such as her running for President in the future. Also, it will show her constituents that bipartisanship could work in Washington, and with approval ratings in Congress so low this could help her get more nationally recognized because it shows that she is able to work across the aisle to get things done which is something many Americans are saying we need to have more of in Washington today. This Thursday, well known political commentator Cokie Roberts stated that it is a very real possibility that with all of her work Senator Gilllibrand will throw her name into the presidential race if Hilary Clinton does not run. This week will tell a lot about what will happen in the Senator’s future.
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