[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 452 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 452

Expressing the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should 
provide full disclosure regarding the details of the deaths of members 
  of the Armed Forces to their families at the earliest possible date.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 20, 2006

  Ms. Waters submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of Congress that the Department of Defense should 
provide full disclosure regarding the details of the deaths of members 
  of the Armed Forces to their families at the earliest possible date.

Whereas Patrick Tillman was an American football player who left a successful 
        sports career to enlist in the Army in May 2002 following the terrorist 
        attacks of September 11, 2001;
Whereas Corporal Tillman served in the second battalion of the 75th Ranger 
        Regiment;
Whereas an Army spokesperson stated that Corporal Tillman was killed on April 
        22, 2004, while his unit was attacked in an apparent ambush on a road 
        outside of the village of Sperah, Afghanistan;
Whereas on May 28, 2004, his family, and the American public, learned that he 
        died as a result of a friendly fire incident;
Whereas Army officials had misled the Tillman family about the details of his 
        death without justification;
Whereas his family and other critics allege that the Army unduly delayed 
        disclosing the truth about Corporal Tillman's death until weeks after 
        his memorial service in order to protect the image of the Armed Forces;
Whereas the Tillman family requested Brigadier General Gary M. Jones to produce 
        a report on the circumstances surrounding Corporal Tillman's death;
Whereas the report received media attention and revealed that, in the days 
        immediately following Corporal Tillman's death, investigators and senior 
        officers, including General John Abizaid, the commander of the United 
        States Central Command, were aware that Corporal Tillman was killed by 
        friendly fire;
Whereas the Army awarded Corporal Tillman the Silver Star, a Purple Heart, and a 
        posthumous promotion to corporal;
Whereas the citation report accompanying these awards indicated that Corporal 
        Tillman was killed by enemy forces and contained a false account of a 
        battle that members of Army leadership knew had never taken place;
Whereas military officials have admitted inaccurately describing the deaths of 
        other members of the Armed Forces, including Specialist Patrick R. 
        McCaffrey, Sr., of Tracy, California, and Second Lieutenant Andre D. 
        Tyson of Riverside, California;
Whereas the deaths of Specialist McCaffrey and Second Lieutenant Tyson were 
        originally attributed to an ambush during a patrol near Balad, Iraq, on 
        June 22, 2004;
Whereas Specialist McCaffrey and Second Lieutenant Tyson were actually killed by 
        Iraqi forces who were being trained by the United States military and 
        who had fired at United States soldiers twice before;
Whereas before his death, Specialist McCaffrey reported the inappropriate 
        actions by the Iraqi security forces to his superiors;
Whereas the Army waited nine months after completing an investigation into their 
        deaths before notifying relatives the soldiers were killed by Iraqi 
        troops; and
Whereas military officials have misled or failed to disclose details regarding 
        the deaths of other members of the Armed Forces in a timely manner: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That it is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the Secretary of Defense should ensure that the 
        military provides full disclosure regarding the details of the 
        deaths of members of the Armed Forces to their families at the 
        earliest possible date; and
            (2) any member of the Armed Forces or a civilian employee 
        of the Department of Defense who intentionally misleads, 
        misrepresents, fails to act, acts in an unreasonably dilatory 
        manner, or is complicit in a conspiracy to withhold from the 
        families of the fallen heroes of the Armed Forces a thorough, 
        timely, and accurate explanation as to the circumstances and 
        time of that member's death should be prosecuted for every 
        offense under Federal law that applies, including offenses 
        under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform 
        Code of Military Justice), as applicable, and if convicted 
        should be punished to the maximum extent that the law allows.
                                 <all>