Tag Archives: congress

#NatSecSoundoff: Sen. Kelly Ayotte demands service-by-service update on the war against military sexual assault


By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn, U.S. Navy Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard, U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer and U.S. Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. John Paxton appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support on March 25, 2015. (Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory/MEDILL NSJI)

U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn, U.S. Navy Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard, U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer and U.S. Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. John Paxton appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support on March 25, 2015. (Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory/MEDILL NSJI)

WASHINGTON – Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., asked top U.S. military brass for an update on the current status of military sexual assault cases within the armed forces in a Senate hearing Wednesday.

The hearing, hosted by the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, focused on the current state of U.S. military readiness, especially under the influence of sequestration.

Those who gave testimony included U.S. Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn, U.S. Navy Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard, U.S. Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer and U.S. Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. John Paxton.

Ayotte, chairwoman of the subcommittee, said that she would be remiss if she didn’t take time during the hearing’s question and answer period to ask for such a status report from the senior leaders of the four military branches.

The four witnesses each gave a description of how their respective service was working to combat the problem of sexual assault in the military.

Listen to each of their responses:

United States Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Daniel Allyn:

United States Navy Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michelle Howard:

United States Marine Corps Assistant Commandant Gen. John Paxton:

United States Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry O. Spencer:

What do you think of the officers’ responses? Are they consistent with your own research and reporting on sexual assault in the military? Sound off on Twitter by tweeting to @NatSecZone with the hashtag #NatSecSoundoff.

Former 9/11 Commission chairs warn Congressional ‘patchwork’ oversight’ of DHS threatens nation’s safety


By SB Anderson

Streamlining and consolidating Congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security was one of the major recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, yet almost a decade after the commission’s report, “More than 100 congressional committees and subcommittees currently claim jurisdiction over it” causing a “patchwork system of supervision [that] results in near-paralysis and a lack of real accountability,” the chairs of the 9/11 Commission said today.

The end result: “Our country is still not as safe as it could and should be,” Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean declare in a New York Times Op-ed piece today labelled “Homeland Confusion.”

The column is timed to today’s release of a report by a task force empaneled by The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands and the Aspen Institute’s Justice & Society Program; Hamilton and Kean served on that committee. (Read the report below). The report sets out why it’s important to consolidate a congressional system in which 100 committees and subcommittees now have jurisdiction over pieces of the department. The graphic below, from the report, gives you an idea of the very large number of Congressional touchpoints. (Click image for larger version).

dhs-report-chart-650