Senate Armed Services Committee

Truly Dishonorable: Military Justice System Betrays Survivors of Sexual Assault

By Elayne Weiss, Washington Legislative Office at 4:49pm

Rebekah Havrilla, a former Army sergeant, received no justice after she was raped by a fellow soldier while serving in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Rebekah testified before the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee at a hearing on military sexual assault, recounting her traumatic and downright appalling time serving in a command culture that tolerated sexual assault and harassment. Her subsequent experience with the military justice system re-traumatized her after she decided to come forward and report her rapist.

Cheney Digs in on Legacy of Torture

By Sam Milgrom, Washington Legislative Office at 5:11pm

Former Vice President Dick Cheney is busy promoting his new book. The take-home message appears to be: He is not sorry for the torture and abuse that took place during the Bush administration.

Senate Armed Services Committee Says "No" to Worldwide War; Overreaches on Indefinite Detention

By Sam Milgrom, Washington Legislative Office at 5:12pm

Hooray! With your help, we prevented the Senate from authorizing the president to engage in worldwide war.

For months, we have been pushing to prevent Congress from passing legislation that would give this president (and any of his successors) the authority to engage our country in a worldwide war without a defined enemy.

A couple of weeks ago, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012 (NDAA), H.R. 1253. The committee recently released the official language — and the worldwide war authority provision was nowhere to be found!

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