Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's bill, the Military Justice Improvement Act, failed by a procedural vote this week in the U.S. Senate. After 26,000 cases of sexual assault were reported in the military in 2010, and less than one in ten being report through the chain of command, Senator Gillibrand sought to bring sexual assaults and other felonies through an independent military justice system. Her effort included Republican Senators such as Ted Cruz and Rand Paul. Even though Senator Gillibrand had 56 cosponsors backing her bill, it was five votes short of advancement. The Service Women's Action Network, which has aggressively supported the Gillibrand legislation, is not deterred. Said senior policy fellow Capt. Lory Manning (Ret.), "...today's disappointment is merely a detour in our march to justice. We will not stop fighting for military sexual assault survivors until service members receive the justice they deserve."
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