{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044948/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/speaking-out-against-military-sexual-assault", "Speaking out against military sexual assault", "2013-11-19", "2013", "2013-11", "Democrat", "House", "WI", "Tammy Baldwin", "B001230", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Tuesday, November 19, 2013\n\t\t\t\t Speaking out against military sexual assault \n\t\t\t\t\n                 \n\t\n\t            \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t  \t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\tToday, Senator Baldwin joined a bipartisan group of Senate women in speaking out on the Senate floor to support historic change in an ongoing effort to address military sexual assault.  \u00a0  In her speech, Tammy shared the story of Rachel from La Crosse, who is a survivor of military sexual assault and turned her pain and courage into a platform for advocacy and service to her community.  \u00a0\n  \u201cRachel joined the Army in 2004, and was sexually assaulted that same year when she was stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland for advanced individual training. After reporting her assault to her commanding officer, Rachel was interrogated for hours over numerous day and ultimately forced to drop the charge. She was written up for fraternization\u2014and her assailant was not charged with any crime.\"\n\u201cAs you can imagine, Rachel was deeply affected by the trauma of this crime and continues to face struggles withpost-traumatic stress disorder.\"\n\u201cBut Rachel is a survivor, and a true inspiration. She has turned her pain and courage into a platform for advocacy and service to her community, working through her organization, Survivors Empowered Through Art, to raise awareness about military sexual assault through the power of art and storytelling.\u201c\nRachel\u2019s story is a reminder that she is not alone and that more must be done to make sure that victims of sexual assault have the support they deserve. This week, the Senate is debating the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) \u2013 which includes 30 different reforms to address military sexual assault. Tammy is a cosponsor of Senator Gillibrand\u2019s Military Justice Improvement Act of 2013 that reforms the military justice system so that that independent military prosecutors \u2013 instead of commanders \u2013 would have authority to decide whether or not felony cases go to trial.\nIn her speech, Tammy also spoke about an amendment she has offered to the NDAA that requires a study of collected data from universities, law enforcement and ROTC programs on incidents and allegations of sexual violence by ROTC cadets in order to assess cause or reason for concern regarding sexual violence within ROTC programs.\nThe men and women of our armed forces serve with courage in defense of our freedom every single day. Their service needs to be respected by taking action to address the ongoing crisis of sexual assault in the military.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221044948/http://www.baldwin.senate.gov/blog/speaking-out-against-military-sexual-assault"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.54569698497653, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}