Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s proposed Military Justice Improvement Act of 2017 would attack the scourge of military sexual violence by removing prosecution authority over sexual assault from commanders. Congress should pass her bill.
Last week, the Senate failed to pass the Military Justice Improvement Act by a vote of 50-94. For the second year in a row, the act fell short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.
Pentagon brass and their status quo supporters have engaged in a misinformation campaign claiming that New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act is unnecessary and will in fact be counterproductive. A recent editorial in the Daily Signal by Charles Stimson of the Heritage Foundation is the most recent example of this effort.
