 Every day, a new group of men and women raise their right hands and swear to join us in protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States of America. Every day, mothers and fathers entrust their children to our leadership. They do so knowing they will face certain risks, combat, dangers at sea, or hazardous operations. But none of them expect the danger to come from other sailors and Marines. We owe our sailors, Marines, and the American people a solution to the sexual assault problem in our ranks. It's a very real problem and it presents a clear danger to the very foundation of our naval culture. We can repeat that there is zero tolerance all we want. However, as leaders, our actions have to match the words in our commitment to prevent these crimes from ever taking place. Make no mistake, sexual assault is a crime. If someone was running across a base, shooting at sailors and Marines, we would act immediately. Sexual assault requires the same immediate action. Sailors and Marines do not prey on other sailors and Marines. Sailors and Marines do not prey on anyone, period. We can and will hold criminals appropriately accountable. You can count on it. Because of the reports on sexual assaults, the American people are beginning to believe that there is something wrong with military culture, that we have a sexist harassing, even threatening workplace, and that we are incapable of professional behavior. You and I know that we ought to be better than that. We have to be better than that to maintain the trust of the American people. We must honor our shipmates by looking out for one another. We must have the courage to act as an intervening bystander or to report crimes and inappropriate behavior. And we must have a commitment to our shared values and to support our shipmates who have been assaulted. The awareness, training, prevention, and response programs we have put in place have been important steps. This is not an easy problem. Imaginative training and new programs are necessary and vital parts of the solution. Addressing the internal threat of sexual assault and the challenge to good order and discipline in our fleet requires the involved deck plate leadership of everyone, everyone serving in the Department of the Navy. We have to follow through. From the newest recruit to the most senior uniformed and civilian leaders, that kind of leadership is needed every single day. Sexual assault is wrong. It's a crime. It can tear apart our units and it can tear apart our Navy. Every one of us must commit today and every day to eliminate this cancer from our Navy and Marine Corps. Semper Fortis, Semper Fidelis, always courageous, always faithful.