Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas have come together in an unexpected show of bipartisanship by signing on to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s (N.Y.) legislation to combat sexual assault in the military.
The three senators made the announcement in a press conference Tuesday morning alongside other supporters of the bill, including Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), according to POLITICO.
“I always thought the motive for the bill was good but now I think the bill is even stronger, and I see no reason why conservatives shouldn’t support this,” Paul said in a statement.
The Kentucky Republican added that he worked with Gillibrand to remove portions of the bill he felt were unnecessary, although the two chose to leave issues such as disobeying orders for military authorities to deal with.
“We want to keep serious crimes, murder, rape, sexual assault in here,” Paul added.
Gillibrand, the primary sponsor of the Military Justice Improvement Act, hopes the legislation will help pare back the military chain of command and bring more transparency to the prosecution of sexual assault cases. This bill is a response to the rising number of sexual assaults in the military, as well as the arrest of an Air Force officer in charge of sexual assault prevention.
The bill already has 32 cosponsors, however it needs 51 to be considered. Gillibrand hopes having Paul and Cruz sign on will help bring aboard more conservatives currently on the fence about it.
“Some say we have no bipartisan cooperation around here, I disagree,” Paul said. “I think this is a great example of how people from both sides come together to work on a problem and look honestly at what a problem is.”
Cruz added that he supported the plan because of Gillibrand’s arguments on the success the British and Israeli militaries have had in decreasing sexual assaults just by removing reporting from the chain of command.
“I was persuaded by Sen. Gillibrand’s exceptionally passionate and able advocacy,” he said.
