"I think all members of Congress need to get on board with this and say, `We're not going to allow this to happen to our troops,'" said Morrow, 26, now a police dispatcher in Palm Beach Gardens. "I'm not sure they are all quite there yet."

The Pentagon estimates that as many as 26,000 in the Armed Forces may have been sexually assaulted last year, some by commanders. The legislation "could be huge in prosecuting people who are committing these crimes," Morrow said.

The former Coast Guard recruit said she and three other young women – all blondes about 5 feet 3 inches tall – were subjected to extreme harassment in 2009 and 2010 at a boot camp in Cape May, N.J., by an officer who selected them for "house mouse" duty.

She said former Chief Petty Officer Carlos Resendez, who also taught training classes intended to curb sexual harassment, would order them one at a time to scrub his office late at night while he stood over them asking suggestive questions and commenting on their bodies.

One woman was induced to strip and have sex with him, prompting Morrow to regret not taking action after earlier incidents.

"I had to tell her I was sorry that I hadn't reported that this had happened," said Morrow, who testified in the investigation that led to Resendez's court martial. "That's why I'm pushing so hard for this [legislation]."

Resendez was sent to military prison for a year on charges of maltreating subordinates and adultery. Prosecutors could not pursue more serious sexual-assault charges because of what critics call limits in military law that require proof of physical or life-threatening harm to the victim.

Morrow took her story in May to U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, who proposed legislation that was added to a major defense bill.

It directs a military tribunal to devise a new definition of sexual assault when committed by military commanders. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., introduced the same measure in the Senate.

"From my point of view as the mother of a Marine war veteran, what struck me is that our sons and daughters put their military uniforms on to protect us. So we must do all we can to protect them," Frankel said.

She tried to spell out the definition of sexual assault in such cases but ran into resistance from Republican leaders of the House Armed Services Committee, led by Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif. They settled on a compromise that directs the tribunal to review the definition.

"It's not easy to change military law," Frankel said. "There is a panel established to review the criminal code, and they wanted this issue to go to them."

The bill also contains provisions to block military commanders from overturning jury convictions and to require a civilian review if a commander declines to prosecute a case. It does not include a broader proposal by U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that would have authorized military attorneys – not commanders – to decide whether to prosecute sexual-assault cases.

The Senate plans to take up the Gillibrand legislation next month. It faces resistance from top brass at the Pentagon, who say commanders should be held accountable but not removed from the process.

Morrow, who left the Coast Guard in disgust, called the Frankel provision a good first step that could lead to more effective prosecutions. The consequences extend to life outside the military, she said.

"These people, they get a slap on the wrist and they are discharged. And then they end up being people's neighbors. They end up being in the community. They are not registered sex offenders, and people around them are none the wiser about what kind of history they have had.

"Until they resolve it and handle it properly, this is not going to go away."