Democratic Women’s Caucus Statement on House Passage of FY22 NDAA
December 8, 2021
CONTACT: Michelle Moreno-Silva
Washington, D.C. – Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Co-Chairs Congresswomen Jackie Speier (CA-14), Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Vice Chairs Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29) issued the following statement on last night’s House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22).
“The House passage of the National Defense Authorization Act is history in the making. The reforms to military justice are the most significant since 1950. We’re making our armed services more inclusive of women, especially women of color. And we’re ensuring that our military families, who also serve and sacrifice, have what they need to succeed,” said the Members. “This bill marks a legislative milestone in providing a pathway to justice for tens of thousands of military sexual assault survivors each year. We are removing cases of sexual assault and other serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and other special victim crimes such as domestic violence and stalking from the chain of command. This bill also creates a standalone offense for sexual harassment, of which there are over 100,000 victims each year. This is key given the chilling number of violent crimes preceded by sexual harassment, including the brutal murder of SPC Vanessa Guillén. This marks a major victory—one that has been a decade in the making—for survivors of sexual assault. It also finally does justice to the honor and memory of SPC Guillén and so many others like her.”
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