More than 70 members of the US Military encounter coerced and abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual assault or are raped every day. That's three every hour.

The National Defense Authorization Act will go to the Senate floor on Monday. As a result, sometime during the next week, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's controversial Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), will be debated. MJIA has the support of 47 Senators and 38 bipartisan sponsors, but is still missing just 13 votes in order to pass without the risk of a filibuster. It's controversial because it proposes removing the prosecution of serious crimes in the armed forces (such as, but not limited to, sexual assault) from the chain of command. Instead, cases will be handled by impartial military prosecutors, who would also be granted authority to decide which cases go to trial.

Senator Claire McCaskill has proposed an alternative approach to reforming that pre-trial process that would allow commanders to stay embedded, but deny them the right to overturn verdicts. Both approaches embrace changes that would address common retaliation against survivors of assault who report crimes as well as requiring a dishonorable discharge for those convicted of sex crimes.

In the 22 years since the Tailhook scandal, where dozens of female service members were openly and publicly harassed and sexually attacked, we have seen the same problems over and over again. The 1996 Aberdeen scandal (in which female recruits were raped by their military superiors), 2003 Air Force Academy rape allegations and charges, and the 2012 Lackland investigations of multiple officers for the sexual assaults of more than 30 women recruits are only the visible periodic eruptions of a culture that exists day in and day out. We are only a few years past the end of "Don't Ask. Don't Tell," but still unable to publicly face the connections between homophobia, misogyny and widespread tolerance for this violence -- against both men and women -- within military ranks.

50 Facts About Sexual Assault in the US Military

, is filled with stories you'd probably rather not read.

But really, don't listen to a girl and a "lefty liberal," as someone just tweeted me mockingly. Instead listen to three major veterans organizations.

, the

and

have

. As veterans they believe that Congress should pass MJIA for four reasons:

It strengthens military justice for both the victim and the accused.

It in no way inhibits commanders from preventing and responding to sexual assault.

The removal of the commander of the accused from the process does not degrade unit discipline, cohesion and combat readiness, none of which are tied to one person, but to collective effort and trust - something that clearly does not exist currently.

Additionally, they note that American allies have already made this change to no ill effects.

As John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America and Anu Bhagwati, Executive Director of the Service Women's Action Network

,

"

Increasing service members' access to justice will not threaten military readiness. Instead, it will increase recruitment and retention and build confidence that our military reflects the ideals it is charged with upholding." They are "not choosing survivors over our military; survivors are part of our military."

Whether it happens in the military or in civilian life, people, almost all men, rape because they can. It's a cultural entitlement. Our military chain of command has itself degraded any confidence that it is interested in changing either - the culture or the entitlement. In the end, this list of statistics is a litany of broken promises to people who've sacrificed their lives.

Amazingly, all 55 of the undeclared senators have phones, websites with email contacts and Twitter accounts. They might like to learn more about this problem and what their constituents think before next week's vote. To follow the week's proceedings use #passMJIA.