In the wake of a controversial Rolling Stone report published last month on rape at the University of Virginia, a Senate judiciary subcommittee held a hearing on the role of law enforcement in sexual assault cases on college campuses.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.) made an opening statement for the GOP contingent, pointing out his co-sponsorship of legislation on the matter.
“I don’t understand the sensitivities that universities have about rape on campus,” he said. “It’s high time to make sure a crime is a crime wherever it’s committed, and treated the same way.”
And then none of his colleagues showed up. The GOP presence was at a bare minimum. No Republican senators entered a statement for the record. There wasn’t even a Republican subcomittee member who wanted to publicly comment on the issue.
“As you know I’m not a member of the subcommittee,” Sen. Grassley commented. He spoke for just over a minute.
The subcommittee chair, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, noted at the onset of the hearing that ranking member, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was “expected to join us.” He did not. The Sentinel reached out to Sen. Graham’s office to comment on his absence, and his lack of statement for the record. It has not yet responded.
Whitehouse did thank Grassley for his participation, and said the incoming chairman’s presence and remarks were significant. He added that he believed the participation of “seven colleagues” was also noteworthy. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made a statement, and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked questions of the panel.
But if the lack of public concern Tuesday among one party is any indication, the Senate might not pass legislation on the matter during the 114th Congress.
Democrats have accused Republicans of waging a “war on women,” particularly in the wake of anti-abortion extremists’ calls in recent years to deny women a right to choose in the event of pregnancy caused by rape. Former senate candidate and former Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) infamously claimed in 2012 that women’s reproductive systems could “shut that whole thing down” in the event of rape. Akin’s opponent, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sat on a panel as a witness, alongside Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), bolstering the Democratic Party’s presence at the hearing.
The pair stressed that concerns over Rolling Stone reporter Sabrina Rubin Erdely’s story on the University of Virginia should not distract Congress from the issue, although McCaskill called the report a “bad piece of journalism” and said it made her “sad and angry.”
“It is a setback for survivors in this country,” she said. “This is not a crime where you have rampant false reporting or embellishment.”
“Clearly we don’t know the facts of what happened or what didn’t happen in this case,” Gillbrand said, referring to alleged inconsistencies in the main source’s account. “But these facts have not changed: UVA has admitted that they have allowed students who have confessed to sexually assaulting another student to remain on campus. That is, and remains, shocking.”
She added that the problem is not unique to a single institution. Both senators said that the criminal justice system at large doesn’t do a good enough job of prosecuting rape.
“Even in cases where survivors have felt supported by their interactions with police, they have been devastated by slipshod investigations, drawn-out court proceedings, and the refusal of prosecutors to take their cases,” Gillibrand said. “Four out of every five cases that are reported to the police are never prosecuted. It’s simply unacceptable.”
Offering one reform proposal, Gillibrand called on police departments to adopt “trauma-informed investigative techniques” that have been implemented by police in Ashland, Ore..She said the department increased reporting by 106 percent between 2010 and 2013, and that the technique has proven useful in investigations of serial rapists.Angela Fleischer, a counselor for the Ashland-based Southern Oregon University testified on the panel that assembled after the two senators departed.
Sens. McCaskill introduced the Campus Accountability and Safety Act in July. Gillibrand is a cosponsor, as are Grassley, Graham, Whitehouse, and thirteen other Senators, both Republican and Democratic. Gillibrand described it as “an exhaustive effort” that was written after consulting with survivors of sexual assault.
