Senator
Gillibrand’s Sexual Assault Bill now has a majority of the Senate who supports
her bill, The Military Sexual Assault
Improvement Act. As of now 53
Senators support her bill including Republicans Ted Cruz, Lisa Murkowski, Susan
Collins, Rand Paul, Chuck Grassley, Dean Heller, Mike Johannes, Mark Kirk and
David Vitter. According to Senator
Gillibrand’s facebook page of the 53 Senators who support her bill nine of them
are Republicans. Senator Gillibrand also got support this week from majority
leader Harry Reid. Just as things were looking very good for Senator Gillibrand
with overwhelming bipartisan support for her bill that she worked so hard on
for many months, Senators Carl Levin, Lindsay Graham, John McCain and Claire McCaskill
all tried to block her bill from getting a vote on the Senate floor. Senator Gillibrand
also appeared on MSNBC’s All in All with
Chris Hayes to discuss why her bill is so critical for our men and women in
uniform and how she is hoping it will still make it to the Senate floor for a
vote. Here is the link to click for her appearance on the show. (http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/still-no-fix-for-military-sexual-assault-67653699751)
An article published this week by the
Washington Post suggests that even if
Kirsten Gillibrand’s bill does not pass the Senate and become law her work may
benefit her politically in the long run. According to the article, the bill
exemplifies Senator Gillibrand’s ability to work across the aisle and will help her gain the
respect of her fellow Senators in both parties. The Senator, according to the Washington Post, published a joint op-ed
piece with Conservative Texas Senator Ted Cruz who has been a supporter of her
bill for a few months now in the newspaper, The
USA Today. The op-ed piece stated how sexual assaults have increased 37
percent over the past few years and why it so important to support her bill.
According to an ABC News poll 6 out of 10 Americans support Senator
Gillibrand’s bill across both parties. Also, the op-ed also states how this is
problem both parties can solve together and fix by adopting her bill. When the Washington Post interviewed Senator
Gillibrand’s office they said in a quote “Gillibrand kicked off her heels
tucked her legs under her couch and said “I know I can make a difference here.”
She also stated further that she knows that she has the ability to be able to
persuade and reach a compromise with anyone in the Senate and that she will
continue to work hard to reach an agreement on this bill. Senator McCaskill
said in the article that she feels Gillibrand’s bill is going way too far in
taking sexual assaults outside the military. For this reason, McCaskill and
many of the Senators on the Armed Services Committee do not support
Gillibrand’s bill. Senator Gillibrand
said that she does not agree with her fellow Democratic Senator from Missouri,
but she praises her for her work on the issue. Gillibrand feels that McCaskill’s
attempt to handle the sexual assault issue in the military does not go far
enough to address the problem. Senator Gillibrand still said to the Washington Post that she doesn’t see any
possible way that her bill will fail in the end, but she did say in a quote “I
will work on this as long as I am in the Senate and I think this is something
that needs advocacy.”
A New York Daily News article discusses how
many believe that Gillibrand’s work on this issue was mainly an attempt to
advance her political career. It also discusses how it did help Senator
Gillibrand politically. It also did mention that her bill will probably make it
to a vote in the two week period following Thanksgiving recess before the
Senate adjourns until 2014. The article even shows a picture of Gillibrand
standing side by side with Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul crying as they
hear a husband discuss his wife’s story of how she was raped in the military. The article mentions that many, including
Senator McCaskill, think Gilibrand’s ability to raise a lot of money has helped
her gain more power and support on this issue. Senator McCaskill said she was
very emotionally upset when Gillibrand said she has no heart for sexual assault
victims in the military because she does not support her bill. According to the
Daily News, Senator Gilibrand never
asked anyone for money on this bill. Senator Schumer, Senator Rand Paul,
Senator Cruz and Senator Reid all said her work on this issue is to be admired
and they hope she reaches victory with her bill. Republican Senator Lindsay
Graham of South Carolina said “She’s really passionate. But now it’s like a
political prize. It’s becoming a resume -building exercise, is what I worry
about.” The article says Senator Gillibrand opposes Graham’s statement.
Clearly
things have gotten very heated for Senator Gillibrand and it will be
interesting to see what happens with her bill before the Senate adjourns for the
year. Also, it will be interesting to see the political affect this had on
Gillibrand in the end, and whether it turns out positive or negative. Another
thing to look at is if the filibuster rule in the Senate should be changed and
if that is impeding a lot of legislation from passing the Senate; one example being
Gillibrand’s bill. It will be important
to see if changing how filibusters are handled or getting rid of it entirely
will help more work get done in the Senate and more bills passed. Only time
will tell what will happen with Gillibrand’s bill?
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