Update: A Message From Tailhook Whistleblower Paula Coughlin
Last week Tailhook whistleblower and Protect Our Defenders Advisory Board Member Paula Coughlin sent the following message to supporters and survivors:
This week I traveled to D.C. to meet with Senators and their staff in support of Sen. Gillibrand’s legislation to fundamentally reform the military justice system. I sat in the US Senate gallery where I watched the historic debate begin.
Unfortunately, the debate leading up to the vote was interrupted by partisan conflict about confirmation of judicial nominations. As frustrating as the conclusion to this week was in denying us a vote on the Military Justice Improvement Act – to take major crimes, including rape and sexual assault outside the chain of command – we can’t let it hide the fact that momentum is on our side.
Over the past four months, over 400 survivors raised their voices – calling, writing and visiting their Senators. It has made a difference. This week, for the first time, we earned the public support of a majority – 53 – of our US Senators in backing the proposal. Due to filibuster procedures, 60 votes will likely be required to pass the Senate. Thirteen remain publicly undecided.
The nation has rallied to your call for transformative reform. Last week, an ABC/Washington Post poll showed that 59% of Americans stand with us. According to the Washington Post, Americans now recognize that “decisions on whether to prosecute allegations of sexual assault within the military should be made by independent group of military prosecutors instead of within the military chain of command.”
You can watch my interview on Capitol Hill on ABC News here
Our opponents and the Pentagon would like to delay, but Sen. Gillibrand has pledged that come hell or high water we will have our day on the floor of the U.S. Senate this year. She is determined to press for a vote, so all of America can see who truly stands with the men and women in the military, their families, veterans and on the side of fair, impartial justice.
We will redouble our efforts in the coming days to convince all undecided Senators that this vote is foundational to our democracy. Simply put, it is a matter of human rights. Service members deserve a professional, unbiased justice system equal the system afforded to the civilians they protect.
In every step we make toward change, we have opened another mind in how real justice is served.
Paula Coughlin, Former Lt., US Navy
Advisory Board member, Protect Our Defenders
