House panel seeks to curb military sexual assaults

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FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. speaks in Springfield, Mass. Determined to check the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces, a House panel is poised to approve a series of revisions to longstanding military law. They include stripping commanding officers of their unilateral authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction and requiring that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

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House panel seek... FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. speaks in Springfield, Mass. Determined to check the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces, a House panel is poised to approve a series of revisions to longstanding military law. They include stripping commanding officers of their unilateral authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction and requiring that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
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