Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is leading a bipartisan coalition of more than 60 senators and House members in urging congressional leaders to keep significant reforms to the way the military prosecutes serious crimes, such as sexual assault, in this year's defense bill. In a letter on Tuesday, Gillibrand and others said it would be "outrageous" to remove the sweeping legislation, known as the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, from the defense bill. "Sexual assault in the military is a serious concern and demands a real solution, not a watered-down provision slipped in the final bill behind closed doors," Gillibrand, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee's personnel subpanel, said in a statement. The proposal would keep serious crimes under military oversight but allow those cases to be handled by criminal justice attorneys with relevant expertise rather than commanders who often lack legal training. The military justice reform effort has 66 cosponsors in the Senate, 220 in the House and significant support from major veterans groups. And while much of the focus has been on sex-related crimes, Gillibrand and supporters have said it should apply to all major crimes, such as murder, manslaughter and child pornography. "It is the only reform that will provide true independence for prosecutors in the military justice system and is essential to ensure that victims, accused, and the public all have full faith and confidence in the military justice process," Gillibrand said on Tuesday. Gillibrand's military justice reform legislation is part of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, passed by a Senate committee earlier this year. However, the House-passed version of the NDAA does not include the overall sweeping provisions that were part of the Gillibrand proposal, although several key House members, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., support the reform. Ultimately, if the defense bill passes the Senate, the final version will be hammered out in conference committee, setting up a fight for the justice reforms in this year's annual legislation. "Putting serious criminal cases in the hands of independent military prosecutors is a commonsense reform that will professionalize our military justice system," the members wrote in their letter Tuesday. "The consensus among experts is that this reform will improve the system." On Monday evening, the Senate tried to move the annual defense bill forward after hitting a stumbling block before the Thanksgiving recess, with Republicans opposing an agreement on amendments that would be taken up for the legislation.