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Command a Change for Survivors of Sexual Assault


National Women's Law Center
Stand with Survivors of Sexual Assault
                Tell your Senators: Stand with survivors to prevent sexual assault in the military.
Take Action

Fox News host Andrea Tantaros attacked MSNBC for covering the Senate’s hearing last week on the scourge of tens of thousands of sexual assaults in the military. She said, “What baffles me though is the way they prioritize these issues… Why is MSNBC devoting so much time to this issue?”
Why? Maybe we should instead be asking why isn’t everyone trying to fix this egregious injustice?
Tell your Senators: Stand strong for survivors of sexual assault in the military.
Sexual assault and sexual harassment have been persistent problems in the military for decades. As soon as tomorrow, Congress will have the opportunity to do something about it, as members of the Senate Armed Services Committee begin making changes to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2014. They can do the right thing by improving the military justice system in ways that will deter perpetrators and send a strong message that sexual assault will not be tolerated. This can be accomplished by moving decision-making on whether and how to prosecute serious offenses like sexual assault out of the chain of command — and by giving decisions to prosecute to trained, experienced military prosecutors, creating a specialized office to convene courts and appoint judges and juries, and prohibiting commanders from overturning guilty verdicts.
Separating military justice decision-making from the chain of command will put decision-making into the hands of those who have legal expertise and make it possible for commanders to concentrate on the areas in which they have expertise, including improving the climate in their commands to prevent sexual assault.
It’s time to fix this broken system. Take action and stand up for survivors of sexual assault in the military.
Congress has a responsibility to members of the military and survivors everywhere to ensure that perpetrators of sexual assault are held accountable for their actions and not allowed back into the ranks. We must work together to make sure that happens.
Sincerely,
Nancy Duff Campbell
Black History

the Senate considers S.744, Immigration Reform ~~~ CONGRESS ~~~ the House considers HR251,HR993,HR1157


Obama Launches DNC Campaign Tour At Illinois State Capitol

The Senate stands in adjournment until 10:00am on Tuesday, June 11, 2013.

  • Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.744, the Comprehensive Immigration bill.  The time until 12:15pm will be equally divided and controlled between the proponents and opponents, with Senator Sessions controlling one hour of the opponents’ time.
  • The Senate will recess from 12:30pm until 2:15pm to allow for the weekly caucus meetings.
  • At 2:15pm, there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.744.  If cloture is invoked, the time until 4:00pm will be equally divided and controlled between the proponents and opponents.  At 4:00pm, there will be a roll call vote on adoption of the motion to proceed to S.744.

2:15pm the Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.744, Comprehensive Immigration Reform;

Invoked: 82-15

Cloture on the motion to proceed to S.744, the Immigration Reform bill, was invoked 82-15.

Under the previous order, at 4pm today the Senate will proceed to vote on adoption of the motion to proceed.

4:00pm The Senate began a 15 minute roll call vote on the motion to proceed to S.744, Comprehensive Immigration Reform;

Adopted: 84-15

Senator Leahy called up amendment #1183 (to facilitate international participation in the performing arts).

Senator Reed asked unanimous consent that at a time to be determined the Senate proceed to vote on passage of S.953, the Student Loan Affordability Act. Senator Coburn objected.

Senator Grassley called up amendment #1195 (prohibit the granting of registered provisional immigrant status until the Secretary has maintained effective control of the borders for 6 months).

The following amendment are pending to S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act:

  • Leahy amendment #1183 (international participation in the performing arts)
  • Grassley amendment #1195 (prohibit the granting of registered provisional immigrant status until the Secretary has maintained effective control of the borders for 6 months)

The following amendments have been considered to S.744:

WRAP UP

ROLL CALL VOTES

1)      Motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act; Invoked: 82-15

2)      Motion to proceed to S.744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act; Adopted: 84-15

No LEGISLATIVE ITEMS

No EXECUTIVE ITEMS

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June 2013
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Watch Most Recent House Floor Activity

Last Floor Action:6/10
3:03:36 P.M. – The Speaker announced that
the House do now adjourn.

The next meeting is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on June
11, 2013.

« Previous Day

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Three quick things you should know about Obamacare


Three quick things you should know about Obamacare

Hi all —

In the past few days, we’ve received three really interesting new pieces of information about the health care law, and we wanted to share these data points with you so that you get a big picture of how things are changing for the better as the law gets implemented.

First, the Affordable Care Act is helping to make sure that insurance companies and providers have to compete for your business by creating a Health Insurance Marketplace that offers people more choice and control over their insurance choices. An estimated 80 percent of the people who will enroll in the Marketplaces live in states with five or more different insurance companies to choose from — instead of just one or two. We’ve put together a memo about that, and you can read it HERE.

Second, as the health care law is helping move to a system where data helps improve consumer choices and the quality of care, the government is making more information available to consumers, from hospital charges and quality outcomes to regional health care system performance statistics. Those may sound like dry things, but businesses are springing up across the country and using this data to power new innovation. Secretary Sebelius explains this idea in more detail HERE.

Third, we got some great news about the long-term viability of Medicare. Program cost growth, both long term and short, is down — even as new benefits for preventive care and prescription drugs are now helping tens of millions of beneficiaries. Get more information about the report that shows that Medicare is growing stronger HERE.

We’re sharing this information with you because we’re sure you hear people talk about the health care law in your communities all the time, and if you have questions we’d love to answer them.

Ask your questions about the health care law, and we’ll answer some of them next week.

Thanks,

Tara

Tara McGuinness Senior Communications Advisor The White House

P.S. — Earlier today, the President delivered remarks on the health care law in San Jose. Lean more HERE.

Stay Connected

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Official Google Blog

1 Comment

officalgoogle

What the …?

Posted: 07 Jun 2013 12:50 PM PDT

Dear Google users—
You may be aware of press reports alleging that Internet companies have joined a secret U.S. government program called PRISM to give the National Security Agency direct access to our servers.  As Google’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer, we wanted you to have the facts.
First, we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government—or any other government—direct access to our servers.  Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a “back door” to the information stored in our data centers.  We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday.
Second, we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law.  Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process.   Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users’ data are false, period.  Until this week’s reports, we had never heard of the broad type of order that Verizon received—an order that appears to have required them to hand over millions of users’ call records.  We were very surprised to learn that such broad orders exist.  Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about our users’ Internet activity on such a scale is completely false.
Finally, this episode confirms what we have long believed—there needs to be a more transparent approach.  Google has worked hard, within the confines of the current laws, to be open about the data requests we receive.  We post this information on our Transparency Report whenever possible.  We were the first company to do this.  And, of course, we understand that the U.S. and other governments need to take action to protect their citizens’ safety—including sometimes by using surveillance.  But the level of secrecy around the current legal procedures undermines the freedoms we all cherish.
Posted by Larry Page, CEO and David Drummond, Chief Legal Officer

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