Last week, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) held a press conference to discuss her bipartisan Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA). The legislation would remove the decision to prosecute rape and sexual assault cases from a conflicted and often-biased chain of command, and put it into the hands of independent prosecutors. This common sense effort has 53 senators publicly supporting the bill.
But Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has threatened to filibuster the MJIA when it comes up for a vote this week. In the case of a filibuster, 60 votes will be needed to pass this legislation. Some Senators are still on the fence and their votes could make all the difference.
Those Senators who are still undecided include:
- Senator Pat Toomey (Pennsylvania)
- Senator Mark Warner (Virgina)
- Senator Jerry Moran (Kansas)
- Senator Marco Rubio (Florida)
- Senator Mike Lee (Utah)
- Senator Thad Cochran (Mississippi)
- Senator Tom Coburn (Oklahoma)
If any of these are your Senators, you can call them today at 1.888.907.6886 and tell him that victims and their families deserve Justice!
Once you’ve reached someone in your Senator’s office, you can say something like:
“Hi, my name is __________ and I am a constituent of the Senator’s. I want you to know I support the Military Justice Improvement Act and that victims deserve justice. I’m asking for the Senator’s support of this bill.”
We would love to hear their response so please email us at info@protectourdefenders.com
You can also tweet as these Senators and ask them to support the Military Justice Act with the hashtag #passMJIA.
Below are the undecided Senator’s Twitter handles:
- Toomey: @SenToomey
- Warner: @MarkWarner
- Moran: @JerryMoran
- Rubio: @marcorubio
- Lee: @SenMikeLee
- Cochran: @SenThadCochran
- Coburn: @TomCoburn
And a suggested tweet:
Our brave men & women in uniform deserve a fair shot at justice. [INSERT SENATOR’S HANDLE] Please join us and help #passMJIA http://tinyurl.com/n4ele5r
By calling or tweeting your Senator, you will be standing up for survivors, their families, and all of our brave men and women in uniform.
No more excuses. No more delays. Congress must act now.
Thank you for your support!