[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 451 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 451

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Sergeant 
 Charles Martland, a decorated member of the Special Forces, should be 
                 reinstated in the United States Army.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 30, 2015

   Mr. Buchanan (for himself and Mr. Hunter) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Sergeant 
 Charles Martland, a decorated member of the Special Forces, should be 
                 reinstated in the United States Army.

Whereas, according to a New York Times report, members of the United States Army 
        and Marine Corps serving in Afghanistan were advised to observe cultural 
        and religious practices and that sexual abuse perpetrated by local 
        allies was a matter of Afghan law;
Whereas one United States soldier said that, from his bunk at a base in southern 
        Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys 
        they had brought to the base and that ``at night we could hear them 
        screaming but we're not allowed to do anything about it'';
Whereas fighting in a foreign theater of war should not require members of the 
        Armed Forces to turn a blind eye towards criminal perversion;
Whereas protecting child predators is abhorrent and inconsistent with American 
        values;
Whereas Sergeant First Class Charles Martland left college to join the Army in 
        response to the death in Afghanistan of former National Football League 
        star Pat Tillman;
Whereas Sergeant Martland has had an 11-year career in the Army's Special 
        Forces;
Whereas while serving in Afghanistan, Sergeant Martland was awarded the Bronze 
        Star for heroism, for jumping in the turret of a damaged Humvee, 
        exposing himself to enemy bullets while returning fire to help his 
        teammates gather sensitive equipment after their vehicle was struck by 
        an improvised explosive device;
Whereas Sergeant Martland courageously confronted a United States-backed Afghan 
        military commander ``for keeping a boy chained to his bed as a sex 
        slave'';
Whereas instead of commending Sergeant Martland for standing up to a child 
        predator, the Army decided to expel him from the service;
Whereas in September 2015, the Army rejected Sergeant Martland's appeal to 
        continue his service;
Whereas Sergeant Martland's dismissal will take effect on November 1, 2015; and
Whereas members of the Armed Forces should be rewarded, not punished, for 
        upholding American values: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) members of the United States Armed Forces should not be 
        punished for standing up to child rapists;
            (2) putting the interests of Afghan rapists ahead of 
        American war heroes is a national disgrace;
            (3) the Americans who should be punished are those who 
        created and condone the immoral and reprehensible policy that 
        encourages members of the Armed Forces to ignore child rape; 
        and
            (4) the Secretary of Defense should immediately order the 
        reinstatement of Sergeant First Class Charles Martland as a 
        member of the Army.
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