occurred here. the heart and the main leadership of our institution, the men and women around the world give themselves and their families -- and they expect more it is bigger than just the pentagon. we are particularly disappointed because this alleged incident occurred here. the heart and the main leadership of our institution, the men and women around the world give themselves and their families -- and they expect more and deserve more. we all have to take some responsibility and i have said clearly in my statement that we will all be hold accountable -- and held accountable. i will take one more. >> he said people should feel comfortable coming forward. senator gillibarand and others said as long as commanders have control over the sexual assault cases, whether it is the convening authority or moving court cases, they won't feel comfortable. are you ready to endorse some of those proposals coming out of progress to put -- congress?

to put some of that power into that and the prosecutors? >> i took the initiative suggesting that we make some ucmj. it deals directly with that issuea. i believe with others on capitol hill that the ultimate authority has to remain within the command structure. there are things that we need to do and should do to make it more accountable. that is why i suggested the changes. there will be more suggested changes. we are working with senators and congressmen. i think they have legitimate points. i i said in my comments, as said one month ago, and as leaders have said, what is going on is not acceptable.

we have to go back and review every aspect of that chain of command. things do need to be changed. but i don't think taking away the old and a responsibility -- ultimate response ability from the military is the way. we will weaken the system. we will continue to address it, it is not perfect. we know we've got big problems. something does say that we are seeing more people come forward. i think that means, when you talk with some of these individuals, that there will be some more confidence starting to develop. that we will take those charges seriously. the victims will not be penalized.

aboute will do something it, and we will get control of this. it's imperfect, it's a problem, but we have to address is. working with congress, what we are doing is the responsible way. i will ask general patton to go into specifics about what i talked about and what we are announcing today. thank you. >> thank you, secretary hagel. general gary patton director of the sexual assault response office. remarks couple opening and i will address the rest of your questions. let me reiterate that sexual assault is an affront to the values we defend. as today shows, we have work to do and it remains a persistent problem and the department.

it is a challenge confronting the military. while we are moving ahead to combat this crime, it is clear we have work to do. we have to eliminate this threat for the safety and well- being of those in uniform. this report contains data for military services and outcomes of sexual assault as well as results from a confidential surveys of active and reserve components of the force. the surveys are conducted every two years as was mandated in the national defense authorization act. this is the year we have survey results incorporated into the annual report. it will be included every two years from here on out. the surveys provide prevalence estimates for estimated occurrence for unwanted actual contact among the forces. we also included survey findings from the national

intimate partner survey, a joint effort between the centers for disease control and the national institute of justice with the department of defense. first i will go through some of the key findings of the annual report and i will talk to you briefly about the strategic plan that the secretary announced. he covered some of the eight initiatives and i will be prepared to take questions. from the annual report, we have the principal findings. the prevalence of unwanted sexual contact increased for active duty women. it is defined as any offense in the full range of offenses from rape as a penetrating crime to abusive sexual contact. the survey gives prevalence for unwanted sexual contact, the

term that encompasses the full range of continuing harm. the prevalence of unwanted sexual contact that we derive from the survey remained unchanged for active duty men and for reserve components, national guard, men and women. andchange active duty men unchanged men and women in the national guard. there were reports of sexual assault revolving -- involving active service members. as either victims or perpetrators. i switched from the survey results to the actual reports. these are the reports that come from the victims in the form of unrestricted reports, the and one that goes forward. that -- that would be one that

goes forward. it is investigated independently by the military criminal investigative office. restricted reports remain confidential but they still get medical care. , the victims. 3374 total reports. a 6% increase from fiscal year 11. of these 3374 reports, 816 were restricted. -- 2558 were unrestrickted. these figures are in our annual report. when you compare the survey results with the actual reports were the victims make the tough step of filing a report to enough already, it shows sexual -- to an authority, it assault is a vastly shows sexual underreported crime. prevalence remaining at a current level, we view an increase in reports with victims coming forward as meaning that

we have more victims coming forward that are receiving medical care. and in unrestricted reports, coming forward with the cases are entered into the law enforcement system. ultimately, we have more cases that proceed to the military justice system and holding the appropriate offenders accountable. increased awareness and new programs i have seen since the time i have been director this past july, we have these in place across the department. but we have more work to do. with this understanding, the department is publishing a revised sexual assault strategic plan. secretary hagel made references to this. it provides authoritative guidance for the department agencies and components. it operationalizes the key tasks for the strategic direction for the force on

sexual assault prevention and response. it aligns and synchronize the efforts across the department along the five lines of effort. prevention, investigation, accountability, victim advocacy, assessment. assessment is important to us this is not a static program. staticuse this is not a program. just months ago in july, it will not be the program that we see in the future. we are continually looking for ways to improve and make a difference. we announced new initiatives today that will make a difference and change the culture. driving the culture change to

turn this around. along with the strategic plan just described for you, and i have given you additional descriptions, there are the new initiatives that we feel are directly responsive to issues identified in the annual report and will contribute to making this enduring culture change. i am prepared to describe any or all of these right now in detail and i am happy to answer your questions. >> the secretary mentioned climate survey. the air force has a climate survey every two years that they are not used to rape leadrs. -- leaders. -- to rate leaders. will they be focused specifically on sexual assault? >> all the services do some form of climate survey, command climate survey, the national defense authorization act stipulated that they be done at

a certain frequency. there is one initially done at 120 days or earlier upon assumption of command. and it specified there'll be one done annually thereafter. within the first 120 days is the initial and annually to the of the command. these surveys are important. we wrote a number of questions not just about sexual assault. it is about hazing and other elements of climate important to an effective command. we wrote questions and to the survey last april, a year ago. 50,000 of those surveys are conducted every month. we see the results. my office sees the results. what is different?

this initiative will direct that the survey results be given to the next higher commander in the chain of command. currently, the survey results are provided to the survey commander. the higher level commander can request them results but they are not given as a matter of policy. this affords divisibility of the senior command. the visibility of the senior commander. if i may colonel in command and i have a subordinate battalion beneath me, i will be seeing the annual reports and annual surveys of each of those battalion commanders as they are provided to me directly. by this, we are increasing the level of visibility of the command climate. it adds a more senior and experienced commander into the

mix in terms of assessing these results. ultimately, if there is trouble and climate issues that are not corrected or addressed, they are able to hold the junior commander accountable. that is one set of templates. -- of inputs. this is aimed at increasing accountability at the higher level of command. >> [inaudible] that is one set of templates. -- of inputs. o-6 is aimed at increasing level? conducted at multiple levels and the services, and so the direction is that they will be provided to the next higher level of command. >> do you accept the problem is getting worse or do you think people are simply more comfortable reporting the

problem and it might be a measure of success? >> i will break it into two pieces. when we looked at the actual reports, the victims make the difficult step of coming forward and filing a report. we view an increase in those reports that could be a sign of improving confidence. there are other things that we look at in terms of confidence as well. i will get to that. we want more reports because more reports, another victim is getting cared for. the unrestricted reports means more cases investigated by law enforcement and ultimately taken to the justice system and holding offenders accountable. going back to the survey, it is confidential and goes out to a ages.

results are weighted. we have a team of statisticians that look at this every year from 2006 to 2010, and 2012 with the data points that we looked at. that is very consistent methodology through those years with the same questions. and what we saw this year, as i mentioned for the active duty females, an increase in the prevalence indicated by their responses to that survey. we take that very seriously. that is a another data point. it is one of the key ways that we measure whether a prevention program is effective and having the -- ultimately preventing the crimes from happening in the first place. what we want to see is the prevalence trend to come down. until that rate comes down to it intersects with the

reporting rape, they both go down. as long as it remains at a high level, it is a sign of victim confidence and coming forward. what else did we look at? the rate at which victims remain in the justice system. that is somethingwe look very closely. you can't prosecute a case when a victim withdraws from the process. we look at that rate. we also look at the rate at which victims come forward and make a restricted report and convert from restricted to unrestricted. that is a sign of victim confidence, willingness to take their case to law enforcement. this year, we saw an uptick there. a positive indicator that there are signs of improving confidence.

14% last year to 17% this year for victims that converted to the unrestricted report. there are a number of things that we look at, the survey is a big part of it. we also will try to get to victim confidence. one of the things that secretary hagel announced is the initiative to direct the service chiefs to develop methods where we are caring for victims and monitoring and improving how they are being treated by their peers, co- workers, and leaders. why is that important? we were told victims were not satisfied by the way they were treated in the unit. they received retaliation, social retaliation, leadership retaliation. that is a huge barrier for

reporting. we pay attention to that and so we get out there and develop methods by which we are getting better treatment. and not medical treatment, but better peer and leader-led treatment to improve victim confidence. >> the survey numbers that you mentioned, is that the 19,000 no. why? that was two years ago -- 19,000 number, right? two years ago? >> for active duty women, the percentage we get is that -- this is an estimate derive from the survey methods -- 6.1% of active duty when men were -- women were victimized by

unwanted sexual contact based on a 2012 survey. for men, 1.2% active duty men, victims of unwanted sexual contact according to their survey. the number you are referring to in 2010, the calculation was made with an extrapolation when you take the percentages and apply them against the n strength of the force. for male and female. it gives you a figure. it is an extrapolation of the percentage. that's derived from the survey. this year, when you apply the figure to the female n strength, you get 12,000. the male percentage to the male n strength is 14,000, plus or minus 1,000 in the survey results.

that is the equivalent figure. adding them together is 26,000, cooperative to the 19,000 that was derived in the 2010 survey. >> [inaudible] is that active-duty and reserve? >> no, that is based on active duty survey. >> one more number. i apologize, but we did not get the report before the briefing. be total number eligible to charged by the u.s. military, how many were court-martialed and convicted? >> if i can say that question and get you an answer when we dig into it. it's in the report. i can get that answer to you. my conviction is --i need to make sure that i got the numerator and denominator correct. i will come back to you on that and take that question for you.

>> of all the things you are worried about is the perceived legitimacy of the process. what is the argument for not taking it out side of the chain of command? >> i think the secretary addressed that question, so i'll say having been a commander for over five years, i'll say that we need to have commanders more involved in the solution, not less involved. we want the more involved because it is important to set the right climate. commanders lead by example lead set standards. commanders have to hold people accountable to meeting those standards. when people choose to be undisciplined, they need have the tools and the authority to take care of that and address that. that is one side of it. the other side is that section 576 which has been mandated,

theindependent panel that secretary mentioned. one of the charters for that panel is to look exactly at this issue, the role of commander as it pertains to the prosecution of sexual assault cases. we made the announcement of the panel members today. we are announcing that the members of the panel will commence work. the secretary saidhe has called upon the panel today to complete its work. months, not 18 months. we want a quick return on that. it is probably one of the key issues that the panel is looking at.

the role of the commander and the investigation. >> the panel will consider taking the investigations -- outside the chain of command? >> i would have to look at the exact language but it was told that the uniform commander is apprised of cases of sexual assault. cases ofapplies to sexual assault. >> the secretary talked about accountability at the president talked about accountability. can you point at cases where commanders have been held accountable for mishandling cases or for climate regarding sexual assault cases? the will point to initiative that the secretary put in place today. aiming at greater command accountability. climateion to the survey peace, directly relating to command accountability, directing the service members and the service chiefs to develop members -- methods to evaluate the performance of

commanders in terms of their establishment of their respect and how they are adhering to the principles of sexual assault prevention response in their command. that is something reinforced from the secretary level across the field. it is that important. it is hugely important. this is something he is announcing as an initiative that will really improve that measure of accountability up and down the chain of command. >> this is not a new problem. are you saying people have not been held accountable? can you point to any cases? is there substance to it? >> there are plenty of cases that have yielded convictions of offenders and held appropriately accountable.

we are looking to improve that step of the process. nowinal investigators are taken every sexual assault case they investigate. those cases are provided to commanders and we have recently elevated the disposition and authority level. last year it was that the '05 level. we elevated it to the '06 level, making disposition decisions about how assault cases will be handled. in terms of referring court- martial charges ortaken to nonjudicial punishment or administrative action. i will end there saying this is not a static program and all the lines of effort are subject to change. in addition to the independent

panel, we are looking at ways we can improve that. we are looking at the initiatives to focus on greater accountability. >> two more questions. andrew? >> the assessment tool that the service chiefs might develop, what will happen to the results of that tool? will that be file, a promotion process? what is the next step? >> the task was to develop methods. it is not a prescriptive tasks. the answers your questions will lie in the methods that are developed. the service chiefs have suspense for that particular task.

let me put my finger on that. report your methods back to the secretary by november 1. there is suspense there. i would expect that the methods developed will address the points that you made. how will this inc. valuations? what is the method of assessment? their vast experience and ownership of this problem to develop solutions that will work for their servicemen. thank you. >> will you or anyone in your office here with a lieutenant colonel, have you spoken to him? has he offered an explanation or anything? this refers to the case that was reported this weekend.

>> i will refer you to the air force on that. with the airn force officer --he may have been in a meeting or two that i was part of. i don't recall a meeting. don't recall ever meeting him. he works on the air force staff. he has been removed from his job and secretary hagel made those comments to you. i would expect the air force to keep us posted on that, but that is where we are at. >> sure. you and the secretary have spoken about holding commanders accountable. caring better care for victims. is there anything here that deals directly with stopping the attackers from committing the crimes in the first place or holding the people that commit the crimes more accountable? sometimes even the best of commands, there might be bad people. are think something we

working on right now is the special victims capability. this gets at investigators and prosecutors, improving their training and methods, the way they collaborate and work together so we can get exactly what you are saying. a lot of these are very difficult cases to prosecute. whether you are in the civilian or military sector. we are undergoing right now, a program development policy. this is something that was mandated in the last defense authorization act. we're working on that and we report back to congress in september of this year. we are collaborating with services on it. we will develop standards and develop the very best training practices for investigators and prosecutors.

itining them together like will operate and putting them together in a work environment from beginning to and where they are focused on solving these cases. fordeing able to take up and prosecuting. take thatng able to forward and prosecuting. these services are doing a lot of this already so we are looking to standardize what they already have under way. i have been out to the school where we teach, of course. -- where we teach a course. for leonardwood, that is where we train the criminal investigative division and a military policeman. i have sat through elements of this course, i have talked to the agents out there, and people have been working on investigating sexual assault cases there military career. and in many cases, civilian law enforcement.

it is a best practice out there and we are looking to standardize it as far as the special victims capability to make them better investigators and get at these very difficult and complex cases to prosecute. thank you. >> thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> congress talked about the problem of sexual assaults in the military and in about five bonnets, you will hear from onty murray and kelly ayotte new legislation to address the problem. first is jackie spear. thank you. oft to me is a mug shot

someone who has been charged with sexual assault. geoffrey mug shot of a lieutenant colonel in the air force. his job is to work at the oftagon as the chief officer the sexual assault and prevention office within the air force. this man is charged with the responsibility of preventing and reporting sexual assault in the military. , in the air force. just this last weekend, he was charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a parking lot.

the best and brightest the air force has to offer to run this office and he is a sexual predatory? r? is that what we are talking about? this is an indictment of the sapro office that is supposed to be the solution for military rape and assault. it is an indictment of our procedures. it is an indictment of everything we have done on this issue. and congress is as culpable as the military in not addressing this. we have known about this issue for 25 years. we are big on holding hearings and beating our chests and saying this has to stop and of the big brass comes up to the hill and they say all the right words. they say we have a zero tolerance. chief prevention

officer is charged with a sexual assault. but it doesn't end there. the bad news does not end there. the military just released, today, the sexual assault and prevention office report on how many sexual assaults took place military last year. guess what? by numbers have gone up 30%. from 19,000 sexual assaults and rapes in the military, last year's figure, to the most recent year's figures, up 26,000 rapes and sexual assaults in the military. for all the money we have been throwing at this issue, for all the prevention and all the rehabilitation and all of the training, the numbers keep going up. now this most recent report also 1/3, 1/3 of the

women serving in the military reported that they were sexually harassed last year. this is an institution of military good discipline? good order? us to roll up our sleeves and do something real about this. we have got to stop nibbling around the edges in an effort to try and fix a broken system. 121 members have joined me as co-authors of legislation that would take the reporting of sexual assault out of the chain of command, keep it in the military, but place it in a separate office, staffed by persons or experts in investigations, and experts in

prosecuting these crimes. until we do something like this, the numbers of sexual assaults will continue to rise in the military. the number of unrestricted reports will not rise as fast as the number of restricted reports. why do we have restricted reports? why would we say to any member of the military -- yes, report this but we will keep it quiet -- we will sweep it under the rug. uss, my friends, is time for to do something. to say thator us we're not going to tolerate another scandal. we're not going to tolerate a scandal on an air force base where there were 59 victims and 32 military training instructors implicated. we're not going to tolerate that in its early, we had a major general overturned the decision

by five military members of the jury who court-martialed a lieutenant colonel and found him guilty and yet the major general overturned the decision and decided to reinstate this individual. the time, my friends, has come to do something. i yield back. >> akio, i come to the floor today because i believe the great strength of our military is in the character and dedication of our men and women who wear the uniform. it is the courage of these americans to serve which is the pentagon's greatest asset. take a minute to think about that. our service members volunteered to face danger, to put their lives on the line, to protect our country and all of its people. when we think of those dangers, we think of ied's, battles with insurgents, many of whom are so cowardly and evil that they refuse to even wear a uniform

themselves and seek to kill innocent civilians. there are other dangers as well. there are dangers that cannot be expected and none of our creed of service members should have to face and what i am speaking about his sexual assault. that continues to plague the ranks of our military services. it is absolutely unconscionable that a fellow service member, the person that you rely on to have your back and be there for you would commit such a terrible crime. it is simply appalling that they could commit such a personal violation of their brother or sister in uniform. even worse is the prevalence of these crimes. we are hearing the alarming statistic that the number of cases have increased by more than 1/3 since 2010. for the estimated 26,000 cases of military sexual assault in

2012, less than 3000 of them were reported. more startling is that of those who brave the come forward to report abuse, an astounding 62% or retaliate against and one way or another. according to the department of veterans affairs, one in five female veterans treated by the va have suffered from military sexual trauma. not the act ofly a comrade. it is not in keeping with the efforts of any service and it can no longer be tolerated. we still have not done enough to put an end to these shameful acts. madam president, today i am taking action to change that. today, senator ayottre and i theed together to endorse

military sexual assault act that we have work done to make several vital importance to protect our service members to assist the victims and punish the criminals. our bill, combating the military sexual assault act, will take -- will create a new category of legal advocates called special victims council would be responsible for advocated on behalf of the interests of the victims. victims councils will advise the victim on the range of legal issues they might face. for example, when a young private first class is intimidated into not reporting a sexual assault by threatening her with unrelated legal charges like underage drinking, this new advocate will be there to protect her and tell her the truth. this bill would also enhance the responsibility and authority of the department of defense sexual response office known as sapro

to provide better oversight to combat military sexual assaults across our armed forces. sapro would be required to regulate track and report and a range of ns statisticsa including assault rates, the number of cases brought to trial, and compliance with these individual services. some of this data collection and reporting is already being done. this requirement is not going to be burdensome but it would give that office statutory authority to track and report to us on the extent of the problem. but combating military sexual assault act would require sexual assault cases to be referred to the next superior competent authority for court-martial when there is a conflict of interest in the immediate chain of command. this is very important. will help insure that

sexual assault allegations, get a fair and impartial and thorough investigation. the president of military offices and the association of america agrees. they said preventing sexual assault is the duty of everyone in the chain of command. this legislation will increase support for sexual assault victims and strengthen policies and procedures for such cases in our nation's armed forces. madam president, this legislation would prohibit sexual contact between military instructors and service members during basic training or 30 days after the training. as we have seen with disturbing frequency at places like laland air force base or the air force academy, service members are taken advantage of and abuse. in these settings, new service members have every aspect of their life controlled by their instructor. while this is a program for military training, in this type

of setting, it is entirely inappropriate for senior service members to seek a sexual relationship with a junior subordinate. it is our view that it is impossible for a service member to freely give consent in that setting. this bill will also ensure that sexual response coordinator as are members of the national guard and reserve at all times. i was told a disturbing story recently biphenyls service member from the national guard in my home state of washington. after being sexually assaulted during her monthly drill on a military base, she took all the necessary steps including calling the sexual assault response coordinator. when she called, she was told that because the assault happened during a monthly drop, not on active duty, the sexual assault response coordinator could not help her. they said those services were reserved for those an active duty. that is absolutely unacceptable.

when one of our men and women in uniform is a victim of a sexual assault and have the courage to come forward and ask for help, the answer never, ever should be sorry, there are regulations and nothing i could do for you. the bill is set to address crisis we have in our armed forces and needs to be done now and yesterday's news that the chief of sexual assault prevention was arrested for sexual assault is another reminder that we've got to change the culture around this issue. thent to be very clear, military has taken some steps on a ton. i'm looking forward to seeing howretary hagel's proposal to reform article 60. under article 60, the convening authority of a court-martial is empowered to dismiss the judgment of a court-martial and overturn the verdict. many of us have had serious concerns about how that

authority has been used in sexual assault cases. we are here today to introduce this bill and i want to thank the senator from new hampshire for her advocacy of this issue and for her help in putting this legislation together. i also want to thank representative tim ryan for his leadership in championing the bill in the other chamber. when i asked the navy secretary about the sexual assault concern was said not strong enough word to describe how he felt about the problem. i know a lot of us here share that feeling. we want it to stop. i am really hopeful that both chambers can work quickly to do right by our nation's heroes. when her best and brightest put on a uniform and join the united states armed forces, they do so with the understanding that they sacrifice much in the name of defending our country and its people. that sacrifice should not have to come in the form of unwanted

sexual contact from within the ranks. i am very pleased to introduce this bill and i want to thank senator ayotte again for her advocacy on this. the senator from new hampshire about thank-you very much. i would ask for unanimous consent to speak in morning business for up to 10 minutes. >> with no objections that not i very much want to thank my colleague from washington, senator murray, her leadership on this issue and the opportunity to work together to address this very important weue of making sure that eliminate sexual assaults that occur within our military and that are the victims of these crimes and they get the respect and support and just as they deserve. i'm very honored to work with you on this and i thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to work with you on

this important legislation to address the very serious problem in our military. i approached this issue not just as someone who comes to military family and has deep respect for the military as i know senator but also someone who served on the armed services committee and someone who worked in my prior career extensively with victims of sexual assaults. during my time as a prosecutor in new hampshire, and then later as a state attorney general, i saw the devastating impact of these types of crimes. i also saw the real need to address what is too often a silent cry and the victims often suffer in silence for fear of coming forward and not being supported. that is a very important thing

and i supported efforts earlier this year that i know senator re-authorizing the violence against women act. currently, military sexual assault occurs at alarming levels throughout all branches of the military. according to the department of defense estimates, 19,000 service members were sexually assaulted in 2011. as a rate of over 52 per day. despite these shocking figures, fewer than 2800 assaults against service members were reported to the department of defense over the same period. the department of defense sexual assault prevention and response office's annual report which was actually just released today at the same time we are filing our legislation, concludes that the number of people were made an anonymous sexual assault claim

but never reported the attack 2011, ed from 19,000 in to 26,000. nearly a 37--- nearly 37% increase. did report, increased only by 8%. this is a dramatic difference of people the were victims but then felt they did not have the support to come forward and report the crimes committed justst astonishingly, yesterday, it was reported that the police arrested a lieutenant colonel in charge of the air force sexual assault prevention and response branch and charged him with sexual battery, bringing this issue very much to the forefront given the fact that this individual was charged with important responsibility over the sexual

assault prevention program. it is important to understand what sexual assault -- why sexual the assault is so destructive. in our military, sexual assault is a serious and unacceptable crime that can inflict lasting emotional and physical impact on the victims of these crimes that can last for years and throughout their lifetimes. in the military, sexual assault can also damage unit morale, readiness, the preparedness of our troops and also military sexual assault can negatively impacted the well-earned reputation of those who serve honorably which is obviously the overwhelming members of paramilitary who served our country with great courage and with great character. we must aggressively tackle this problem to compassionately help

victims but also to protect the good order and discipline that ultimately supports the readiness of our military units. we do our military and service members a little good if we ignore this problem. weversely, it is important passed common-sense legislation that will help solve the problem. we should make no mistake that the vast majority of our men and women in uniform serve with tremendous dignity and honor. united states continues to be the very best military and the world because of the character quality and courage of our men and women in uniform. when a service member fails to live up to our values and commits a sexual assault, we must ensure victims have the support they need and that the perpetrators are held accountable and are brought to justice. iat is why senator murray have introduced this legislation today. our legislation titled the

combat in military sexual assault act would expand and improve military sexual assault prevention and response resources available to the victims of these crimes, building on the lessons we have learned from a pilot program that is already in place in the air force, our bill would provide trained special victims council's two victims in all service branches to help them throughout the process. these councils can help comfort and advise victims after the crime has occurred. the special victims council can also provide victims the confidence they need to come forward, report the crime, and seek justice. the chief of staff of the air force general welsh testify this morning before the armed services committee that the evidence is clear that providing special victims council to those who suffer from this crime has been "immensely helpful in the

air force." crime withinim of our armed services has the support of the special -- special victims council. our bill would insure that sexual sort responsive chord as are available to members of the national guard and reserve of all times and regardless of whether the service member is operating under title 10 or title 30, authority is very important that we get this in the law so that our guards men and women get the support they deserve. we could not have fought the battles on the wars we have fought without their courage and bravery and sacrifice is. our bill would also make certain that sexual assault cases are referred to the general court-martial level when sexual assault charges are filed or to the next superior competent authority when there is a conflict of interest in the immediate chain of command. the way the system is set up now, there is not a set

mechanism. this common-sense approach would recognize the uniquely devastating damage sexual assault crimes in flight on individuals and to ensure that victims can have confidence in the military justice system. in conclusion, allowing this problem to persist is simply unacceptable. both for the victims and for the morale and readiness of our forces that do so much to ensure the freedom of this country. we must continue to make clear that sexual assault in the military simply will not be tolerated. we must match these words with actions. our legislation does just that. i look forward to working with the department of defense, continuing to work with senator murray thank her again for her leadership on this and my senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen existing laws and policies so that all military sexual assault buttons

can come forward without fear of retribution and with confidence that they will receive the support, care, and justice that they deserve from our country. thank you, madam president. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> president obama was asked about the pentagon report on sexual assaults. this is a portion of that news conference. [video clip] let's start with the principle that sexual assault is an outrage. it is a crime. that is true for society at large and if it is happening inside our military, then whoever carries it out, is betraying the note -- the uniform they are wearing. they may consider themselves patriots but when you engage in this kind of behavior, that is

not patriotic. it is a crime. we have to do everything we can to retain this out. this out. this is not a new phenomenon. we want to create a structure where we get accurate reporting. chain, we aree process, a system of accountability and transparency so that we can toor this out completely. this out completely. secretary panetta had begun the process of moving this forward. i have directly spoken to secretary hagekl already today and indicated that we will have wenot just step up our game, have to exponentially step up our game to go at this thing card. hard.

for those in uniform who have experienced sexual assault, want them to hear from their commander-in-chief that i've got their backs and i will support them and we will not tolerate this. there will be accountability. if people have engaged in this behavior, they should be prosecuted. anybody in the military who has knowledge of this can understand that this is not who we are, this is not what the u.s. military is about. the vast majority of men and women in uniform who carry out their responsibilities and obligations with honor and dignity and incredible courage every single day. the bottom line is -- i have no tolerance for this. theve communicated this to secretary of defense. we will communicate this again to folks up and down the chain

in areas of authority. i expect consequences. i don't want just more speeches or awareness programs or training but, ultimately, folks look the other way. if we find as someone is engaging in this stuff, they will be held accountable. there will be prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired. , a dishonorably discharged, period. it is not acceptable. >> the house oversight committee holds a hearing this morning on the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya that killed four americans. that is live on c-span 3 at 11:30.

in a few moments, today's headlines and your calls and tweets live on "washington journal." korean the south president speak this morning live at 10:30 eastern. in about 45 minutes, we'll discuss the latest developments in syria and the middle east with a democratic representative from florida, the ranking member on the foreign affairs subcommittee who is back from a trip from israel. we will be joined from derek morgan from the heritage foundation to discuss the foundation's new report on the cost of immigration. as part of our spotlight a magazine series, a contributor to the smithsonian magazine will

discuss the recent article on big science and research and microbes. "washington journal [captioning performed by national captioning institute] " is next. [video clip] "washington journal >> ♪ host: good morning, everyone. welcome to the washington journal on this may 8, 2013. fresh off a meeting with president obama, south korea president park geun-hye ofresses a joint doesnsession congress today. in the house, live coverage this morning of the oversight and government reform committee hearing on the attacks in benghazi with a whistle blowers from the state department. back live on c-span3 at 11:30. tonight president obama dines with nancy pelosi and other house democratic leaders as he continues its outrea e