Klobuchar introduces bill for military survivors of sexual assault

Posted at 11:32 AM on March 28, 2011 by Brett Neely
Filed under: MPR in D.C., U.S. Senate

DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced a bill today that would require the armed forces to retain all records related to sexual assault. She introduced the bill jointly with fellow Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

Klobuchar's office says the bill, known as the Support for Survivors Act, is needed because there's been a rise in the number of reported sexual assaults in the military.

Last year, there 3,158 official reports, but the Pentagon estimates that number is only a fraction of the total number of assaults. The bill's authors say poor record-keeping practices further complicate efforts to track the reported crimes.

"Instead of destroying these records, we should be making sure that consistent records are kept across all military branches," said Klobuchar in a statement. "By simply helping preserve their personal records, we can make sure our veterans have the care they need while supporting justice for assault victims."

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