The Senate has rejected a measure that would have moved the handling of military sexual assault cases outside the chain of command. Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand had led a campaign to strip military commanders of authority over sexual assault cases in favor of an independent military prosecutor. But 10 Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat Gillibrand’s proposal. The military has faced increased calls to reform oversight following a report showing around 26,000 sex crimes within the ranks in 2012. After Thursday’s defeat, Senator Gillibrand paid tribute to the military sexual assault victims who came forward to lobby Congress.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand: “Many of them may not ever wear the uniform again, but they believe so strongly in these reforms that for a full year now they have come to us to meet with senators and members of Congress to tell those stories of what they endured and why the system is so broken. Tragically, today the Senate failed them.”