Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Dean Heller (R-NV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) issued the following joint statement on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on campus sexual assault:
“We have a responsibility to make sure colleges and universities keep our students safe, and must act on the failure to properly address campus sexual assault. Thanks to the survivors who have come forward and to a growing body of research, we know sexual assaults happen on campuses large and small, urban and rural, private and public. We also know that the lack of uniform standards for filing reports or initiating investigations has contributed to cases being swept under the rug at the expense of the entire campus community. We have worked with survivors, advocates, parents, schools and law enforcement to craft the bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act and finally fix this broken system. Our comprehensive bill will make sure colleges are held accountable, creates new tools to measure campus safety and requires schools to designate a trained Confidential Advisor to assist students.
“Passing the Campus Accountability and Safety Act is critical to ensuring these cases will no longer be ignored, brushed aside and mishandled. We are grateful to Chairman Alexander and Ranking Member Murray for convening this important hearing and hope that our testimonies shed light not just on the problem of campus sexual assault but also on the solution.”
The four Senators testified before today’s hearing and are among 34 total Senators who have signed on to support the bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act.