Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Wednesday urged colleagues to include strong measures to help sexual assault victims in the military as part of the next major defense bill.

“As you prepare the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, I strongly urge you to include additional legislation to ensure justice for victims of sexual assault in the military and to prevent these horrific acts against service members in the future," the Nevada Democrat wrote.

The letter, addressed to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and top Republican James Inhofe, R-Okla., is a response to Tuesday's Pentagon report that found sexual assaults reported by members of the militarywere up 6 percent over 2011.

A survey of personnel who could remain anonymous found that number of incidents could be as many as 26,000 annually, or 70 every day.

The figure comes from a survey that had replies from 22,792 active-duty military personnel, or 2 percent of the active-duty military strength.

Republicans took a pause from partisan politics in their weekly address Saturday, as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., praised first responders in the Boston Marathon incident.

"This week, on Patriot’s Day, a day that celebrates the beginning of our country’s journey toward freedom, a horrific tragedy occurred," he said. "The Boston Marathon bombing has left us all with a heavy heart and we pray for the victims and their families.

"However, while the perpetrators of this act of terror hoped that they could shake the confidence of a city, they have instead only strengthened the resolve of our nation. This became apparent immediately as first responders ran towards unknown dangers."

Scott called them "amazing Americans, some of whom charged through fences and barricades, put their own lives on the line to help others. We are so thankful for these women and men, who on a daily basis sacrifice for our nation—they are our friends, our family, our neighbors."

For the rest of the address:http://www.republican.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=weekly

The Senate will put aside gun control legislation for awhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.

"I've spoken with the president. He and I agree that the best way to keep working toward passing a background check bill is to hit a pause and freeze the background check bill," Reid, D-Nevada, told Senate colleagues.

He insisted the bill will be back, and senators will once again be allowed to offer amendments. He gave no timetable.

"We're going to have time to work on what people want to do before we come back to this," he said. "And it will give  opponents an opportunity to decide what they want to do when we get back on this."

And, he added, "it will give antigun advocates time to make their voices heard by Republican senators."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has long been a gun rights supporter, but said Wednesday he'll back the assault weapons ban up for a Senate vote later today.

"I will vote for the ban because maintaining law and order is more important than satisfying conspiracy theorists who believe in black helicopters and false flags," he told Senate collagues. "And I will vote for the ban because saving the lives of young police officers and innocent civilians is more important than preventing imagined tyranny."

Reid noted, "I am a strong supporter of Americans’ right to keep and bear arms. That’s how I earned a B grade from the National Rifle Association. When I was a 12-year-old little boy in Searchlight, Nevada, my parents sent away for a 12-gauge shotgun from the Sears catalogue. And I carried a handgun when I served on the Capitol Police force," Reid recalled. 

"Where I come from, people own guns as a matter of course for self-defense and for hunting," said the Nevada Democrat, "but I have always had trouble understanding why people need assault weapons to hunt or to protect their homes.

"When the assault weapons ban came before the Senate for a vote in 1993 I called my friends in Nevada to ask their opinion on the legislation. One friend said he believed it was impossible to define what an assault weapon was. That seemed reasonable to me, and so I voted against the ban."

Here's more from his Senate speech:

The Senate plans to begin voting at 4 p.m. Wednesday on nine amendments to its gun safety bill, amendments that deal with a wide range of gun control and gun rights issues.

Each vote will last 10 minutes, and there will be two minutes of debate equally divided between each side before each vote.

It's not clear when a final vote on the bill will be taken.

First vote is expected to come on a stronger background check measure, a compromise pushed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

Then will come amendments on gun traffricking, extending conceald carry laws, banning assault weapons, limiting the size of magazine clips and more.

Two House of Representatives lawmakers have introduced legislation to strengthen gun background checks, the House version of the Senate compromise on the issue.

Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., are lead sponsors. The Senate is debating the measure this week, and a vote is expected later in the week. 

Thompson and King released a joint statement: “Background checks are the first line of defense against criminals and the dangerously mentally ill getting guns. This bill is comprehensive, it is enforceable, it will save lives, and it will protect the rights of law abiding Americans to own guns. It’s time for Congress to act. The American people are getting a vote in the Senate. They deserve one in the House."

Whether that vote will be held in the House remains uncertain.

Here's more from Tuesday's news release:

     The Senate plans a vote Thursday at 11 a.m. on whether to cut off debate on the effort to proceed to gun control legislation.

      If it gets the required 60 votes, considered likely, "there's no reason not to start legislation," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Wednesday. If the vote succeeds, there could still be 30 hours of debate.

      Reid hoped not. "I hope we don't have to go through this procedural mishmash," he said. "Somebody has something to say, come say it."

       Next would come amendments, on an assault weapons ban, restricting magazine clips and more. That process is expected to take about two more weeks. The first amendment will involve the compromise on background checks announced Wednesday.

           Reid was not concerned with how long the process takes. The key, he said, is "Are we going to legislate the right way?"

The Senate plans its first big test vote on gun control legislation Thursday.

Some Republicans are threatening to filibuster the measure; it would take 60 votes to cut off debate. No one was predicting whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who scheduled the vote, could get 60.

Reid, though, kept up the pressure Tuesday, when he announced the vote at a news conference.

"It would be a real slap in the face to American people not to do something on background checks, on school safety, on federal trafficking, which everybody thinks is a good idea, on background checks.  Even the vast, vast majority of people who belong to the NRA support that," he said.

"The American people deserve a vote on background checks, on federal trafficking, on safety in schools, on the size of clips and yes, assault weapons, and of course mental health."

The Senate returned Monday from a two week spring recess, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid kicked off the week by vowing a full debate on gun control measure.

"In the wake of last year’s terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut – a mass shooting that claimed the lives of 20 boys and girls and six educators – I promised to bring anti-violence measures to the Senate floor," he said. "It is time Congress engaged in a meaningful conversation and a thoughtful debate over how to change the laws and culture that have allowed violence to grow."

The Senate is debating whether to proceed to the bill. Votes are expected to begin later this week, and any final votes are unlikely until later this month.

Reid vowed, "Every idea should be on the table and every issue should get a vote – from better mental health treatment and more secure schools to stronger background checks for gun buyers and a ban on assault weapons."

He acknowledged "There are strong feelings and deep disagreements about some of these measures. But every one of these measures deserves a vote.  And there is no better place than the United States Senate to begin a national conversation about such critical issues – even if they are divisive issues."

Some Republicans have threatened a filibuster, but not all have said they'll join.

"We should not stifle debate, run from tough issues or avoid difficult choices.  This body – the world’s greatest deliberative body – has a proud tradition of such robust and constructive debate," Reid insisted.

Here's the rest of Reid's remarks:

House of Representatives Democrats Thursday unveiled a sweeping series of proposals aimed at curbing gun violence, a package that includes an assault weapons ban and stronger background checks.

Lawmakers conceded chances of passing the entire package are slim, though pieces do have strong support, notably the background checks.

Still, said House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, "I think we should move as boldly as possible and see where we come out."

The package is the result of studies by a special House Democratic task force chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

The package:

Ø  Support the 2^nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. The United States Supreme Court affirmed individuals’ 2^nd rights to firearms in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).  However, the Supreme Court also held that “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,” Within the limits described by Heller, the federal government has the responsibility to take appropriate steps to protect our citizens from gun violence.

Ø  Support citizens’ rights to possess firearms for hunting, shooting sports, defense, and other lawful and legitimate purposes: In the United States, there is a long tradition of hunting and recreational shooting, and firearms are often passed down within families from generation to generation. Policies passed by Congress should respect this.

Ø  Reinstate and strengthen a prospective federal ban on assault weapons: These weapons are designed to fire a large number of rounds in a short period of time. They constitute a lethal threat to law enforcement and other first responders.