dr. margaret bell director of education and training, national military sexual assault trauma support team. i'd like to thank all of you in advance for your testimony and for your dedication on behalf of our service members. these are not easy issues to deal with but there are real consequences of these horrific crimes that are far too common in our military. there's no better -- there's no greater responsibility for congress and the military leaders than to care and provide for our service members and their families. the nation entrusts their sons and daughters to our military, and we must ensure that their service is safe from sexual assault and if they are assaulted that they receive the best care and treatment possible while at the same time holding perpetrators accountable for their criminal actions. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses on the first panel. i encourage you to express your views candidly, and to tell us what's working, and what's not working. help us to understand what we can do to address this unacceptable problem of sexual assaults in the military. i want

dr. margaret bell director of education and training, national military sexual assault trauma support team. i'd like to thank all of you in advance for your testimony and for your dedication on behalf of our service members. these are not easy issues to deal with but there are real consequences of these horrific crimes that are far too common in our military. there's no better -- there's no greater responsibility for congress and the military leaders than to care and provide for our service members and their families. the nation entrusts their sons and daughters to our military, and we must ensure that their service is safe from sexual assault and if they are assaulted that they receive the best care and treatment possible while at the same time holding perpetrators accountable for their criminal actions. i look forward to the testimony of our witnesses on the first panel. i encourage you to express your views candidly, and to tell us what's working, and what's not working. help us to understand what we can do to address this unacceptable problem of sexual assaults in the military. i want