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June 13, 2013

Senate Measure Rejects Independent Oversight of Military Sexual Assault 
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The Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced a measure that rejects
independent oversight of sexual assault in the armed forces. The panel's
personnel subcommittee had approved Democratic Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand's proposal to remove the handling of sexual assault cases
from the military's chain of command and instead place it in the hands
of military prosecutors. But Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, the Armed
Services Committee chair, replaced that measure with one preserving
military leaders' final say. The issue has erupted following a recent
report showing 26,000 sex crimes within military ranks last year, and
the arrests of several Army officials involved in policing sexual
harassment within the ranks.

 

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