This week, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced the “Stop Our Sexual Assault in the Military Act,” her first bill in Congress.
Fellow freshman U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowtiz, D-Fla., is the main co-sponsor of the bill, which will “require a member of the Armed Forces serving on active duty to receive self defense training once a month to combat sexual assault.”
Luna weighed in on the bill this week.
“Sexual assault cases are all too prevalent in the military and we have seen an unacceptable uptick over the last few years. This bill would go a long way in putting a stop to this and ensuring our service members are fully equipped to defend and protect our nation without facing personal assault,” Luna noted. “When I served in the military, I witnessed the lack of self defense and combat training. This bipartisan piece of legislation would ensure that out of the already-required physical training days each month for active duty service members, one of those days would be designated to self defense/combat training.
“Importantly, this bill does not increase the number of training days required. All members of our military will benefit from this prevention and response training. This is a no-brainer,” she added. “As a veteran, I will always have the backs of our brave men and women who put everything on the line to defend our nation so that we can live in the strongest country in the world.”
More than a dozen members of Congress co-sponsored the proposal, including Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Matt Gaetz, Bill Posey and Greg Steube.
The bill was sent to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. So far, there is no companion measure over in the U.S. Senate.
