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Why Kirsten Gillibrand and Joni Ernst's push to curb military sexual assault is a breakthrough

In this week’s ‘Equal Value’ series, Lauren Leader and Daniela Pierre-Bravo explain how lawmakers agreed on a bipartisan bill that would curb military sexual assault cases by moving them out of the chain of command.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.Reuters, Getty Images

After an 8-year-long push to reform the way the military prosecutes sexual assault cases, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) secured enough bipartisan votes this month to gain passage of a bill that would significantly change how these crimes are handled.

“What’s so amazing is this is a story of bipartisanship,” said ‘Equal Value’ co-host and All In Together CEO, Lauren Leader. “Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, and they’ve come to an agreement about taking the reporting about sexual assault out of the chain of command. It’s a huge breakthrough and now it means that they actually will be able to pass legislation around this as part of the Defense Authorization bill.”

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Also, in this week’s ‘Equal Value’ episode, co-host Daniela Pierre-Bravo weighs in on seven pieces of career advice women should ignore, as well as the best advice she and Leader have ever received.