WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas) introduced the bipartisan Service Member Safety and Security Act—legislation ensuring coordination and communication between military units and outside law enforcement agencies in the event of missing servicemembers, strengthening the safety and accountability of servicemembers. The Senators’ bill was created in response to the tragic death of U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen and the death of her alleged assailant. Her alleged assailant was able to flee his military installation due largely to a breakdown in communication.
“Improving coordination and communication between military units and outside law enforcement agencies when servicemembers go missing will help improve our troops’ safety both on and off military bases across Arizona,” said Sinema, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Sinema and Cornyn’s Service Member Safety and Security Act specifically directs military branches to seek a Memorandum of Understanding with local law enforcement agencies and coordinate regarding a servicemember’s missing status, strengthening the protections and accountability of servicemembers.
Earlier this year, Sinema and Cornyn introduced the introduced the bipartisan Military Family Violence Prevention Act to reduce and prevent domestic violence in the military. The Senators’ bill improves the Department of Defense’s Family Advocacy Program by ensuring the program is properly resourced, improving coordination of the program on installations, and increasing education about the program for servicemembers and families in order to quickly intervene and prevent domestic violence in the military.
