Politico: Some brass back Kirsten Gillibrand’s sexual-assault bill
Politico reports that three former United States Generals have come out in support of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA). One of those three is former Lieutenant General, Claudia Kennedy. General Kennedy was the first female to reach the rank of three-star general in the United States Army and now serves on the Advisory Board of Protect Our Defenders.
The New York Democrat is still a long way from getting the backing of the Defense Department itself. But recent letters sent to the senator and obtained by POLITICO show she’s not without some backing from the brass. The new supporters are retired Brig. Gen. David McGinnis, a former Obama administration Pentagon appointee; retired Lt. Gen. Claudia Kennedy, the first woman to be a three-star Army general; and retired Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, who was the Army’s highest-ranking psychiatrist.
“After carefully thinking about this issue, I believe the Defense Department’s time to solve the problem on its own has expired,” Kennedy wrote. “Civilian and uniformed military leaders have had absolute discretion and power to make changes, but have not fixed the problem and have not stopped retaliation suffered by survivors who report the crimes committed against them.”
