Gillibrand 'not giving up' on military sex-assault bill

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has seen major setbacks to her measure to fundamentally change how the military handles sexual assaults among service members -- but she says she won't stop until it becomes law.

Gillibrand, the junior Democratic senator from New York, believes passage of her bill to shift the decision to prosecute sexual assaults and major crimes from the chain of command to military lawyers is "inevitable," said her chief of staff Jeff Fassler last week.

"We're not giving up on this bill," Gillibrand said as she left the Senate chamber after her attempt to pass it as an amendment last week to the defense authorization bill was blocked.

Gillibrand will try to reach a deal to bring her amendment up again for a vote when the Senate returns Dec. 9 and takes up the defense bill, said her spokesman Glen Caplin.

If that maneuver fails, Gillibrand has reintroduced the measure so she can bring it up on the Senate floor for a vote as a stand-alone bill, Caplin said.

"If we are not successful this year -- and we think we can be successful this year -- we're not going away," Caplin said.

Since Gillibrand introduced it on May 16, support for the bill has grown from 15 Senate co-sponsors to 53 senators that her aides say have publicly pledged to support it in a vote.

Joining her side are 17 of the 20 women senators, two tea party favorites -- Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) -- and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Public interest in the issue also has grown in the past year.

A Washington Post / ABC Poll last week found six in 10 people said decisions on prosecuting sexual assault among service members should be made by independent military prosecutors instead of within the chain of command.

But so far the bill has been blocked by an opposition that includes Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the top two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).

Among the most effective opponents has been Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a former prosecutor who backs other reforms to address sexual assault.

Also outspoken against are two military veterans -- Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) -- who depict it as an attack on the abilities, integrity and character of military commanders.

In June, the Armed Services Committee voted against Gillibrand's measure, ensuring it would not be included in the annual defense authorization bill now being considered.

Gillibrand persisted and filed the measure as an amendment to the bill on the Senate floor, and last week, the Senate debated the bill for two days.

But when Reid tried to set a vote on the amendment, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blocked it, and Gillibrand failed to get the necessary 60 votes to overcome the objection.

Gillibrand's crusade has been good for her politically. Senators on both sides of the debate praise her passion and persistence in pushing the bill.

And her ability to build a bipartisan coalition of a majority of the Senate despite the Pentagon's opposition has highlighted her political skills.

Thomas Mann, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution, said, "She has enhanced her stature in the Senate whatever the outcome."