“We do not comment on our communications with members of Congress,” said John F. Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman.
“While not perfect, the agreement is far from a setback for survivors and their lawyers,” said Lynn Rosenthal, the chair of an independent review committee Mr. Austin appointed this year to come up with recommendations on the matter. “Instead, it represents a historic step toward justice.”
General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had long opposed the changes, but acknowledged last spring that junior enlisted troops had largely lost confidence that sexual assault cases would be handled fairly.
The movement gained momentum last year after the death of Vanessa Guillen, an army specialist who, according to law enforcement, was killed by another soldier at Fort Hood in Texas. The case prompted an in-depth examination of the culture of the military base and the wider military in which attacks have remained ubiquitous. Years of small legislative action have done little to resolve the issue, and Ms. Gillibrand, as well as California Democrat Representative Jackie Speier, who had also spent years working on legislation, were often rejected by fellow lawmakers and Pentagon officials.
Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican and a retired National Guard lieutenant colonel, said her own experience of sexual assault made her think about the issue, which in turn prompted other Republicans to support such efforts this year.
The rollout of the new law will take two years, lawmakers said.
In 2019, the Department of Defense found that there were 7,825 reports of sexual assault involving the military as victims, a 3 percent increase from 2018. The case conviction rate was unchanged between 2018 and 2019; 7 percent of the cases taken by the command resulted in a conviction, the lowest percentage since the department began reporting in 2010. insufficient evidence.
“While this agreement clearly does not encompass everything my colleagues and I insisted on,” said Ms Speier, “it represents a huge leap forward for survivors of sexual assault and marks a turning point in the fight for justice for those affected by the current system.” , and the relatives of those killed or killed by suicide as a result of that failure.”