Now, mr. President on an entirely different matter, the ongoing revelations about planned parenthood are more than just disturbing. They literally shock the conscience. A democratic colleague called them quote very troubling. End quote. Extremely troubling and highly troubling. Next week every member of this party will have a chance to join us in reaffirming the senates commitment to genuine compassion and to Womens Health. We introduced legislation last night that would ensure taxpayer dollars for Womens Health are spent on Womens Health. Not a scandalplagued political lobbying giant. Its a simple choice. Senators can either vote to protect Womens Health or they can vote to protect subsidies for a Political Group mired in scandal. I know planned parenthoods entrenched lobbyists have been close allies of democrats in recent years but this moment calls for senators to rise higher and to think bigger. Lets not filibuster Womens Health in order to protect special subsidies for one scandalplagued political organization. Why dont we join together instead to bring something positive for the American People from a terrible situation. Mr. Reid mr. President . The presiding officer the democratic leader. Mr. Reid the republican legislation to attack Womens Health is disguised as a way to help women. Youd have to look long and hard to find those people who are being taken care of across the country today because of programs that allow them to go to someone that knows what theyre talking about when theyre concerned about their fertility, concerned about Birth Control and the myriad of other problems that happen as women go through life. The republican bill pretends to be for Womens Health, but it would prohibit federal funds to go to an organization that is the health care backbone for american women during their lives. In fact, its the only health care that a significant number of women get. About 30 of women thats their health care. So you can disguise this by having fancy titles to the legislation any way you want. This is an attack on Womens Health. Now its really stunning to me that those 16 people running for president are out there theyre going after, of course, as we know theyre going after immigration. Theyre going after not only immigration generally but specifically. These young men and women who came to america and the face of this picture in nevada is a woman named astrid silva who came here as a little girl in a boat with her mother with her little doll and rosary beads that she didnt understand. A little, little girl. She knew of no other country. And what do the republicans want to do . Deport astrid silva a woman who finally, because of the courageous action of president obama, because the republicans refused to do anything on immigration, allowed this woman to get a drivers license to fly in an airplane for the first time, to be able to go to the airport without fear of being arrested. They want to do away with that. But thats not enough. They want to most of them want to privatize Social Security or change it in some significant way. Led by one president s son one president s brother who basically said weve got to change medicare as he was speaking to the koch brothers. Were working here trying to get exim bank that affects the lives of 165,000 working americans. Most of the republicans want to get rid of that, and now the program is out of sync. Its expired. The environment dont worry about it. It is fine. We have ice caps, an ice cap melting in the arctic. Dont worry about it. We have the worst fires in the history of alaska because of climate change. Dont worry about it. Its only five million acres burned this summer so far. The droughts thats affecting all across america but especially in the west, its so bad, mr. President so bad in the west that in the sierras there are bears who dont even hibernate anymore. Its not cold enough. In New Hampshire moose are dying. About a third of them are dead because of flees and ticks. Why . Because its not cold enough to kill them anymore and so these little pests are ravaging these huge animals. But i could go on, but im going to stop other than say in addition to all that, now theyre after Womens Health. So i hope that no one thinks that the pretty posters and the fancy words is not i hope they understand that it is still, no matter how you packagecommittee. It is two hours and ten minutes. The Senate Committee on health education, labor and pensions will come to order. Good morning. Todays hearing marks the committee seventh congress on the reauthorization of the education act. We will be discussing Sexual Assault on College Campuses this morning and legislative proposals aimed at lessening this crime and providing justice for the survivors and the allege alleged perpetrators. Before we begin i would like to share a brief stylite from chairman Lamar Alexander who asked me to read the following. I asked senator collins to chair the hearing because i have to go to a funeral for a friend. The senator worked at the university in bangor maine so she brings valuable points to the discussion. It is weird reading what someone is saying about you. I thank her for doing this and the witnesses for attending. The goal of the regulations and rules should be to help our 6,000 colleges and universities create campus environments that make students safer from Sexual Assault. In doing that we should be careful to one eliminate laws and regulations that are dup duplicate so instead of filling out forms colleges have more time to counsel students and create a safer environment. Two, help colleges better coordinate with Law Enforcement agencies but not turn colleges in the Law Enforcement agencies. And three, establish procedures that are fair and protect the Due Process Rights of the both the accused and the accuser. I know that the chairman regrets very much that he could not be here today and i would ask that the remainder of his full statement be printed in the record. One of the things that i most enjoy as the United States senator is the opportunity to meet with students from my home state of maine. A sentiment i am sure many of my colleagues share. Yesterday, i had breakfast with my summer interns who attend six different colleges and universities. We discusseded the incidents of Sexual Assault on their campuses and what can be done to halt this crime and meet the needs of survivors. These students had three insightful recommendations. First, they all support mandatory ongoing training for had students. Second they emphasisput emphasis on students who are assaulted need an advisor they can turn to. And as chairman alexander mentioned they believed it was important to make fair discipline procedures are fair for those assaulted and accused. There are two federal laws to help combat Sexual Assault on campus. The cleary act and title nine of the education amendments of 1972. Last Congress Provisions of the cleary act were updated by the enactment of the violence against women act reauthorization. Senator casey a member of this committee, helped lead the effort to include important reforms related to Sexual Assault prevention on campuses. On july 1st the department of education issued new regulations implementing these amendments to insure camps have policy and procedures in place to prevent and respond to Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence dating violence and stalking. These laws include requirements that educational institutions file annual reports on the crime occurring on Campus InstituteSecurity Policies and have fair Disciplinary Procedures for Sexual Assault cases, employ a title nine coordinate notify survivors about their rights and the Resources Available to them, and provide for staff training. Many colleges and universities are also engaged proactively in raising awareness about Sexual Assault among the student body. For example, the university of maine launched its office of Sexual Assault and violence prevention last year and has undertaken a campaign to educate students through posters, bro brochures and other items. The office of greek life requires frat and participate in Sexual Assault, drug and alcohol Awareness Training each year. The system we have in place is designed to allow administrators to intervene quickly on behalf of students in a way that is separate from the judicial system. I hope this hearing will inform the committee of what in the Current System is working, what needs to be changed and whether additional reforms are needed to help keep students safe while respecting the privacy of Sexual Assault survivors who may be reluctant to report the crimes and providing Due Process Rights for all students. This committee has formed a Bipartisan Working Group to explore campus Sexual Assault and Campus Safety in greater detail. I look forward to hearing from your witnesses on how we can build concensus around this issue. Our first panel is comprised of four senators who worked tirelessly together on legislation to combat campus Sexual Assault and introduced the campus accountability and safety act. Senator heller mccaskill, gillibrand, and ayotte are four of the original cosponsors of this bill and devoted a great deal of time and energy to this effort. I want to recognize the work of senator blume, rubio and grass. There are several provisions that merit our full consideration. All of the senators testifying have shown great leadership in addressing campus Sexual Assault and i want to thank each of them for their participation this morning. It is my great pleasure to turn to the Ranking Member senator murray, and i will say this feels like old times when we left the transpirortationtransportationhud appropation subcommittee. Thank you very much. It is great to be working with you on this committee. I note the women of the senate have come today. I want to thank our witnesses as well who represent a wide array of rer spective and appreciate all of you for taking the time to join the senators collins in recognizing the work of the first four witnesses, senator mccaskill, Heller Ayotte and gillibrand. Fighting back against Sexual Assault and campus violence requires coordination input and focus at every level so i am grateful all of our witnesses took the time to be here to talk about this today. I said before, Higher Education is an important pathway to the middle class. It is an opportunity for students to grow personally and develop skills that will prepare them to succeed in todays economy. With all of that to focus on the last thing a student should have to worry about is whether they are safe on campus. But the harsh reality is 15 women is sexually assaulted in college and men as well. In 2013 alone College Campuses reported 5,000 forcible sex offenses and a recent study indicated that number could be much greater. There should be no question that Sexual Violence on campus is a widespread growing and unacceptable problem. Simply put in colleges and universities across the country bake human rights are being violated and all too often Current Systems and Campus Climate encourage under reporting rather than action. As we talk about the serious ness of this problem it is important to talk about the work being done today. Survivors are stepping up to make sure they expect far better from their schools and communities. In doing so they have forced National Conversation and they have shown other survivors they are not alone. President napolitano, great to have you here today. They have developed partnerships between schools and communities and law enforce to cord nature and improve response. Thanks to the work of many here today, including senator casey, regulations went into affect as part of the violence against women act of 2013 that will require schools to increase transparency about Sexual Assault and violence and strength strengthen efforts. I am pleased with the leaders here gathered to talk about the prevalence of campus Sexual Assault and put in place key protections for survivors and improve coordination with Law Enforcement and impose harsher penalties on schools not meeting the requirements. As a mother grandmother and a senator i know to know when a student is attacked her school is ready to respond with respect, compassion and accountability. We need to do everything we can to engage students in school so Sexual Assaults dont happen in the first place. Recent research by the centers for Disease Control has identified campus Sexual Assault as a Public Health issue and shown sustained Education Programs help prevent Sexual Assault especially by helping those break the myths down and break down social norms that sanction Sexual Violence. I am eager to hear about policies and programs aimed at prevention. We cannot expect to fix this problem just by changing the rules. We have to do something much more difficult and that is to changing the culture. For example just a few years ago, mr. Bolger brought to fact at her school, a paternity printed tshirts of a woman being roasted on a stick like a pig. Think about the message that sends to students, male and female, about how much their Community Values women. This is one example of countless to chose from. That is why the National Conversation students like ms. Bolger starts and other leaders stepped up to support is so absolutely critical. A country that values women and all individuals is stronger for it. So we all need to do our part to keep this conversation going and we need to make it louder. We have done far too little in congress to support survivors and be a voice for women across the country, daughters and granddaughters granddaughters, who are counting on us. I am glad chairman alexander and i agree the Health Committee need to join the debate on campus Sexual Assault more fully. I want to thank our witnesses again, including our colleagues and the work many of you did with members on both sides of the aisle focused on the fight. As we continue the conversation about our countrys Higher Education system and the work on this community, we have an opportunity to stand up for survivors and make sure the status quo is totally unacceptable and continue the conversation about changes we need to see. I want to thank senator collins for being here and i want to recognize senator sanders for stepping up. Thank you very much. Thank you, senator murray. I am now very pleased to welcome our colleagues as the first panel of Witnesses Today. Missouri senator Claire Mccaskill has a long history of fighting Sexual Violence going back to when she prosecuted sex crimes and established a Domestic Violence unit in kansas city and leading to her current work in the senate to curb Sexual Assaults in the military and on College Campuses. She is the lead on the campus accountability and safety act. Nevada senator dean heller has been an advocate for Sexual Assault survivors since his ten ure representative when he reduced the back log of rape kits and brought closure to the families of the crime. New york senator gillibrand has been a key joyce voice on the issues of Sexual Assaults in military particularly in the armed Senate Committee. And New Hampshires senator kelly ayotte d