Exclusive: Senator Gillibrand eyes extending Civil Rights Act protections to U.S. troops
By Phil Stewart
5 Min Read
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Kirsten Gillibrand says she will work with colleagues on legislation giving U.S. troops the same legal protections against discrimination as civilian employees, a move advocates say could be a game-changer for minorities in America’s armed forces.
The effort by Gillibrand, who is expected to lead a Senate subcommittee responsible for U.S. military personnel, follows a 2020 Reuters investigation here that showed U.S. troops were far less likely to file racial discrimination complaints than their civilian counterparts.
That is despite data from a long-withheld Pentagon survey here that showed nearly a third of Black servicemembers and a significant percentage of Asian and Hispanic servicemembers experience racial harassment, discrimination, or both. The survey was first reported by Reuters last week.
“Disturbing new data shows that our service members are suffering due to a lack meaningful civil rights protections, while their civilian colleagues in the Department of Defense and across the government enjoy robust rights enshrined in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,†Gillibrand told Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN29N1W8
