Rep. Chu Testifies About Military Hazing in House Armed Services Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA) testified before the House Armed Services Committee on her ongoing efforts to address hazing in the military.

“Hazing has no place in our military. It breeds fear and distrust of peers and leadership, and undermines unit cohesion,” said Rep. Chu. “While progress has been made over the past three years, our work is far from over in addressing this abhorrent behavior.”

The Armed Services Committee is currently determining priorities for the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Portions of Rep. Chu’s legislation, the Harry Lew Military Hazing Accountability and Prevention Act, were included in the FY2013 NDAA, including a requirement of each military branch to report to Congress on hazing within their ranks.

“What we learned from these reports is that substandard tracking systems are resulting in unreliable data, as most branches don’t specifically track allegations and incidents of hazing,” Chu continued. “What’s worse, it is clear from these reports that branches that don’t require hazing to be reported appear to have the most occurrences, so solutions are being ignored where they are needed most.”

In light of these shortcomings in the military’s reports, Rep. Chu urged that the FY2015 NDAA require updated hazing reports from the Department of Defense (DoD) and an independent review of hazing within the DoD conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“It is crucial that we have the most up-to-date information as we continue to refine our hazing policies, and it is equally important that our information come from independent, unbiased sources.”

Rep. Chu’s full testimony is available here.

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