[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 63 (Monday, May 18, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H3358-H3359]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   VIOLATION OF RIGHTS OF CHAPLAIN WILLIE WILLIAMS AND COMDR. CHERYL 
                               WASHINGTON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, last week, my friend and colleague, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush) spoke to us in this Chamber about 
the unfair treatment of two dedicated Navy officers, Chaplain Willie 
Williams and Lt. Commander Cheryl Washington. Simply stated, this case 
is a tragedy. It is a tragedy in all aspects.
  The first tragedy was the heinous assault, a gang rape, that occurred 
at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. Lives have been altered, 
changed and ruined. And only through tremendous faith and human will 
can this incident, this crime, ever be reckoned with and overcome.
  The next tragedy was the treatment of a Navy Chaplain who only wanted 
to tell the truth. Someone who only tried to do what was right and 
just. Someone who saw wrong and tried to right it, who tried to make 
sure that justice prevailed. Yet, he also became a victim.
  The next tragedy, the one that is most disappointing, the one I hope 
that can be rectified, is the tragedy of the response of the United 
States Navy.
  The brave men and women of our Nation join the military services for 
many different reasons. Some join because they want an education, and 
they see the military as a way to break the bonds of poverty and to 
better themselves. Some join because they seek an adventure, an 
adventure that is not available to them in the small town where they 
live, or the crime-ridden streets of their city, or the mundaneness of 
their neighborhoods.
  Some join to ``be all that they can be.'' They want to prove to 
themselves that they are able to meet the physical, mental, and 
emotional challenges. Others join because they want to belong to a 
group, a group that has a purpose. There are as many reasons to join 
our Nation's military as there are people who have signed up.
  Mr. Speaker, there is one underlying reason that is shared by all the 
enlisted personnel and officers who currently serve, who have ever 
served, and who sit today at a school desk and dream of serving. They 
all love this country, and they all want to see that America stays 
strong, independent and free. They all believe that they can make a 
difference in this country and that their best opportunity for making 
that difference is through serving our country by helping to defend it 
against aggression.
  That is why this case is so sad and heartbreaking.
  Chaplain Willie Williams, Lieutenant Commander Cheryl Washington, and 
scores of others have been let down, have been treated unfairly and 
unjustly, have been abused, and have been betrayed. They have been 
betrayed by the people who they served with, the people they trusted to 
do what was right, the people they willingly allowed to lead them, whom 
they willingly would follow into battle. If this continues much 
further, Mr. Speaker, they will have been betrayed by the institution 
that they loved, the United States Navy.
  I was first contacted by Chaplain Willie Williams in January of this 
year. He had some very serious allegations to make. He claimed that a 
young woman had been sexually assaulted numerous times and that, when 
he reported this, he himself became the subject of investigation, and 
that the subsequent investigation was conducted with a complete lack of 
integrity, thoroughness, and efficiency.
  I found this allegation, Mr. Speaker, very troubling. I represent a 
``Navy town.'' Many of you in this body have made official trips to San 
Diego to review our naval facilities there. There is no better Naval 
port in the world and no place where the quality of life for the men 
and women serve in the Navy is better. Thousands of Navy personnel 
retire to San Diego. In short, the Navy has been good to San Diego, and 
San Diego has been good to the Navy.
  Whenever I am approached by anyone who tells of a Navy injustice, I 
tend to be skeptical. I want to believe the Navy, Mr. Speaker; but, 
with this case, there is something that was just not right. There was 
something that did not ring true.
  I hope that this case is not over. Chaplain Williams has been court 
martialed. But he tried to do the right thing. He tried to stand up for 
fair play, he tried to stand up for justice, and he tried to stand up 
for the truth. I hope the Navy has not ignored these and chosen to 
follow a path that is littered with racial discrimination, yes,

[[Page H3359]]

Mr. Speaker, cover-up and vindictiveness.
  Mr. Speaker, I call today on Navy Secretary Dalton, as did the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Rush), to personally review this case and 
be sure that no stone is left unturned, that every step is taken to 
ensure that it is a road to justice that is traveled by our very own 
United States Navy.

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