Debate over court-martial reform in the House Wednesday led a Republican on the House Armed Services Committee to claim other lawmakers assume his military service means he is a rapist, murderer or sexual assaulter.
Rep. Steve Russell, R-Okla., a retired Army lieutenant colonel, objected to an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act sponsored by Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., that would require court-martial juries to be randomized, removing some control by commanding officers and military judges to pick jurors.
Russell said during his time in the Army he sat on courts-martial and two war crimes tribunals and said the amendment unfairly assumes the military cannot be trusted to hold fair trials.
“Honestly, I didn’t know that … I was so closed-minded, that I was a rapist, that I was a murderer, that I was a sexual assaulter, that I was all of these things until I came to Congress and heard often from my colleagues how horrible I was when I was in uniform as a commander and how incapable I was in being able to meet justice and make decisions,” Russell said during the committee debate. “But now I learn that maybe I just didn’t realize who I was.”
Speier, who had also proposed a companion amendment aimed to reduce sexual assault, appeared taken aback by the comments.
Both amendments were defeated by voice votes.
“Mr. Russell, I too thank you for your service to this country. One thing I don’t like is to have my words twisted,” Speier said. “With all due respect to you, I have not said that you are a rapist or that you do not conduct yourself in an appropriate manner as a commanding officer.”
Speier said service members should be given the assurance that jury members are appropriately selected and that the trials are not unduly influenced by military authorities who pick each member.
“What this amendment does is quite simple. It just says that when a jury is being empaneled, they would be randomly selected from the universe from those who are eligible to serve on the panel, not specifically handpicked by the convening authority,” she said.
