Congress poised to force historic change to military justice system

WASHINGTON — Supporters of fundamentally changing how the U.S. military handles allegations of sexual assault and other major crimes say they now have the votes to make their proposal, which the president supports, the law of the land.

After nearly a decade of failed attempts, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, DN.Y., and her allies in both chambers are poised to transform the military justice system so that independent military prosecutors, not unit commanders, may soon decide which allegations of major crime are prosecuted, notably including rapes.

The most recent Defense Department survey showed 20,500 sexual assaults on active-duty women and men in fiscal 2018. Less than half of those assaults were formally reported, and only 108 people were convicted of these crimes.

The 20,500 assaults “tells us that it makes them more likely to be sexually assaulted by a fellow service member than be shot by the enemy at war,” Gillibrand told reporters Thursday.

Gillibrand chairs the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel. The full committee for years has been the bastion of resistance to Gillibrand’s proposal, with considerable pressure against her measure coming traditionally from the military brass.

Now Gillibrand appears to be just a few commitments shy of securing inclusion of her proposal, which is co-sponsored by Iowa Republican Charles E. Grassley, in the annual defense authorization bill, the so-called NDAA.

But the committee’s views may not matter all that much. That’s because 46 senators have cosponsored Gillibrand’s bill. And, of critical importance, enough additional senators have privately signaled their support to indicate there are 60 or more yes votes, according to Don Christensen, a former top prosecutor in the Air

Force, who tracks the issue closely.

“It’s in play in the Senate Armed Services Committee, but I am confident that it would pass in a Senate floor vote, if it came to that,” said Christensen, who is now president of Protect Our Defenders, a human rights group that focuses on the military.

The vote projection of Gillibrand’s supporters has not previously been publicized.

Nearly a half-dozen senators, including Texas Republican Ted Cruz, told reporters this week that they believe the measure will pass.

“And it’s about damn time,” Cruz added at an April 29 news conference.

The House, for its part, is widely expected to adopt a similar provision taking prosecution decisions out of commanders’ hands, at least for sexual crimes. The champion of such a measure there is California Democrat Jackie Speier, who chairs the Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel.