Tim Kaine statement on Victims Protection Act passage

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine released the following statement on passage of the Victims Protection Act of 2014:

“Today the Senate came together across party lines to address the serious and longstanding crime of sexual assault in the military. The Victims Protection Act of 2014 strengthens the historic reforms we passed in NDAA by banning the ‘good Soldier’ defense for servicemembers accused of assault and allowing survivors to give formal input in whether their case is tried in military or civilian court.  I am proud to support these reforms and I will continue pushing for legislation that protects and empowers the survivors of military sexual assault, increases reporting, and puts perpetrators behind bars.”

As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kaine strongly supported the 36 historic provisions included in the 2014 defense bill to tackle sexual assault in the military, including reforms to provide survivors their own independent legal counsel, strip commanders of their ability to overturn jury convictions, install civilian review of decisions to not prosecute cases, make it a crime to retaliate against survivors who report a sexual assault, eliminate the statute of limitations in these cases, and many others.  These historic reforms also included the Military Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, introduced last year by Kaine and Senator Mark Warner.