National Journal: Gillibrand Fights for Military Sexual-Assault Reform Despite Opposition From Levin

The National Journal reports:

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s decision to go for broke pushing a far-reaching measure designed to crack down on the scourge of sexual assaults in the military sets the stage for a likely ill-fated showdown with Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., when the panel marks up its annual defense bill Wednesday.

The Democratic senator from New York included her controversial bill, which would take the decision of whether to prosecute sexual assaults out of the chain of command, in Tuesday’s markup of the defense bill by the Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, essentially challenging Levin to strip it out. The personnel section of the bill, including Gillibrand’s language, was adopted by voice vote.

Levin, a well-respected chairman on both sides of the aisle, is expected to prevail, but not without Gillibrand putting up a fight first. It was clear at a hearing last week on proposals to combat sexual assault that Levin was generally supportive of keeping commanders empowered and accountable for correcting abuses in the system, including the growing problem of sexual assaults. The Michigan Democrat confirmed this suspicion Tuesday, telling reporters he was pursuing an alternative to Gillibrand’s bill that would require reviews of cases that commanders do not choose to prosecute.

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