Senate defeats military sex-assault bill

TIMELINE: The sex abuse scandal centered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has become the worst in Air Force history with 33 basic training instructors under investigation for allegations of misconduct with 63 recruits and technical training students. The following photos depict the still-unfolding investigation. less TIMELINE: The sex abuse scandal centered at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland has become the worst in Air Force history with 33 basic training instructors under investigation for allegations of misconduct with 63 ... more Photo: John L. Mone, ASSOCIATED PRESS Photo: John L. Mone, ASSOCIATED PRESS Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close Senate defeats military sex-assault bill 1 / 60 Back to Gallery

WASHINGTON — Despite earning a majority of votes, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's bill to take sexual-assault case decisions out of the military chain of command died Thursday when supporters were unable break a filibuster. The 55-45 vote in favor of the bill fell five votes short of the 60-vote threshold needed for the bill to advance.

Immediately afterward, the Senate voted 100-0 to advance a competing, less far-reaching measure offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.,which leaves the case decisions to commanders, but eliminates the so-called “good soldier defense,” which allows records of good conduct to be introduced as evidence of innocence.

Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who fought for more than a year to build support for her bill, bumping up against stiff opposition from both military brass and leaders in her own party, including Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was bitter in her assessment of Thursday's defeat.

“I always hoped we could do the right thing here — and deliver a military-justice system that is free from bias and conflict of interest — a military justice system that is worthy of the brave men and women who fight for us,” she said. “But today the Senate turned its back on a majority of its members.”

She vowed that she would not stop fighting for the victims of sexual assault in the military.

The actual vote on passage of the McCaskill bill will happen Monday.

Gillibrand's passionate fight captured considerable attention, and support from her bill went from negligible to a majority over the course of a year of hearings, debate and intense lobbying.

The sharp contrast in philosophy between McCaskill and Gillibrand about how to combat the epidemic of sexual assault in the military made it an uphill fight all the way for the New York Democrat, but the visibility of the argument — and the fact that a majority of the Senate got behind Gillibrand — was a clear wake-up call to the Pentagon on an issue that clearly will not go away.

In 2013, the Express-News series “Twice Betrayed” documented the mistreatment of sexual-assault victims by the military, including their frequent dismissal from the service on dubious psychological grounds.