Politico: Military sexual assault: Levin, Gillibrand escalate fight
Politico reports:
The two Democrats are fighting for votes ahead of a showdown expected after the August recess, when Gillibrand plans to offer an amendment to the defense authorization bill — widely opposed by the Pentagon and Democratic and GOP hawks — that would set up a new independent legal channel to prosecute sexual assaults and other major crimes.
And the Democrats’ differences over how to address sexual assault have also swept up Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the senior Armed Services Committee member who has been championing Levin’s alternative approach that includes more than two dozen other provisions designed to address the issue.
Protect our Defenders, a group representing sexual assault victims that’s aligned with Gillibrand, ran a half-page ad Tuesday in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch describing McCaskill as an obstacle to meaningful reforms to reduce crimes within the ranks.
