Kerry and Collins sponsor a bill to help protect military sexual assault victims

[karynnj]

It is a companion to the Nikki Tsongus' House bill.

The House Armed Services Committee adopted a series of new protections when it passed the 2012 defense authorization bill last week, and similar legislation was introduced Wednesday in the Senate by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Susan Collins, R-Maine.
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The House and Senate initiatives are similar, drawn from recommendations of the 2009 final report of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services to fix flaws in the rights and legal protections for assault victims.
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“Sexual assault has no place anywhere, but especially not in the military, where brave men and women live by a code and rightly pride themselves on honor,” said Kerry, who said he prosecuted sexual assault cases as a prosecutor in Middlesex County, Mass., in the 1970s.

The House defense policy bill, HR 1540, goes to the House floor next week for debate and amendment. The Kerry-Collins bill, S 1018, was referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will begin writing its version of the defense bill after Memorial Day.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2011/05/military-sexual-abuse-victims-protection-051911w/