In the News
By Rep. Mike Turner
Shortly after North Korea began ramping up their threats of attacking the United States or our allies in the Pacific, our nation moved key missile defense assets to the region. Then, the Obama Administration picked up their favorite bargaining chip - America's missile defense shield.
"A lower-level chain of command decision can result in extreme bias and extreme pressure," Turner said in an interview in his Capitol Hill office.
Turner favors legislation that would move the adjudication decision on sexual assault to higher-ranking military officers then hold them to account if the cases are not handled properly.
"As we elevate up the chain of command and institute an accountability for the person that has that responsibility, their performance, their review, their promotions, should be decided based on their handling of these cases, instead of the silence these cases had before,"
Turner said.
By:Ginger Gibson
Reps. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, and Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., are proposing stripping an officer's authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction in major cases, such as sexual assault. Their bill would also require that an individual found guilty of rape, sexual assault, forcible sodomy and an attempt to commit any of those offenses be either dismissed or dishonorably discharged.
Huffington Post
Reports of sexual assault in the military rose during October 2011 through September 2012 by 6 percent from the prior year. A total of about 26,000 service members said they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, nearly 7,000 more than in 2010, when about 19,300 members of the military reported inappropriate sexual contact.
11:30 a.m. in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building
By DONNA CASSATA | Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Outrage over an Air Force officer's decision to overturn a jury's guilty verdict in a sexual assault case has Republicans and Democrats joining forces on ambitious legislation to change the military justice system.
On both sides of the Capitol, lawmakers have interpreted Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's recent proposal to essentially stripcommanding officers of their ability to reverse criminal convictions of service members as an opening to revise the decades-old Uniform Code of Military Justice.