WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released the following statement after his Protecting our Servicemembers through Proven Methods Act, which would direct the Secretary of Defense to collect comprehensive data on the causes of sexual assault and harassment, and domestic violence in the military, was signed into law:

“This legislation will help the Department of Defense improve our understanding of the root causes of interpersonal violence in the military so that our military commanders will have better tools to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place,” said Sen. Cornyn. “America’s servicemembers have answered the call to defend this nation and we must ensure they too are protected.”

Background:

The Protecting our Servicemembers through Proven Methods Act would help to inform and improve military commanders’ ability to prevent interpersonal violence by directing the DoD to collect data on the causes behind sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence in the military. This legislation would also require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to compare those causes with similar data from civilian communities, other federal civilian agencies, and public universities. This legislation builds upon Sen. Cornyn’s Servicemember Safety and Security Act, included in the Fiscal Year 2022 NDAA, to strengthen military commanders’ ability to work with local and federal civilian enforcement and respond if a service member is reported absent without leave or missing.