[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 144 (Wednesday, October 15, 2003)]
[House]
[Page H9465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            QUESTIONS REGARDING VESTS FOR THE TROOPS IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Madam Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about something 
that has been in the news lately. I first became aware of this problem 
in May when I received a letter from a young soldier in Baghdad, one of 
my constituents, a young man who attended West Point, a young man who 
loves the military and loves being in the Army. He wrote me a letter 
and he said, Congressman, I am so proud to be in the Army. And then 
later on in his letter, he said, I'm angry because there are two kinds 
of protective vests that are being issued over here. One of the vests 
is capable of stopping fragments. The other vest is capable of stopping 
bullets. I'm wondering why my men do not have access to the best vests, 
those that can stop bullets. It is called the Interceptor vest. It is 
made of Kevlar. It has areas where ceramic inserts can be placed. And 
these Interceptor vests have been credited with saving nearly 30 lives 
in Afghanistan. Yet, Madam Speaker, it is almost beyond belief that 
although we had months to prepare for this conflict, months during 
which we knew that there was a high probability that we would be going 
to war, we put our young soldiers into harm's way without protecting 
them with the best vests, bulletproof vests, available to us.
  There is a story that has been reported in the press of how one young 
soldier was on patrol, and he was shot by the enemy four times, twice 
in the chest and twice in his arms, and he survived. He survived 
because, although he did not have one of these Interceptor vests to 
wear, before he went on patrol one of his buddies took off his vest and 
gave it to him. It was only because he had this Interceptor vest on 
that he survived being shot in the chest.
  But tonight, as we are here in Washington, DC, and those of us who 
are Members of this Chamber feel safe and secure within the confines of 
this House Chamber, there are young Americans who are in Baghdad and 
Tikrit and other parts of Iraq, some 44,000, we believe, who do not 
have the Interceptor vest. They have Vietnam-era flak jackets 
basically, jackets that are incapable of stopping the bullets. I wrote 
Secretary Rumsfeld, and I asked him some questions which I think I and 
the American people deserve to have answered. Why were our soldiers not 
provided with these vests at the very beginning of this war? We had 
plenty of time to prepare to have these vests manufactured. Why were 
they sent into harm's way? How many American soldiers have lost their 
lives? How many have been terribly wounded and injured because of the 
insensitivity or incompetence or outright shameful behavior of those 
who decided that for some reason our soldiers did not need or did not 
deserve this kind of protection? I think the Secretary should answer 
that question to this Congress and to the American people. It is just 
almost beyond belief with all the billions of dollars available to the 
Pentagon that this most basic protection for our soldiers, the vests, 
the body armor they wear, would not be given to them. General Meyers 
said, well, it's not a question of money, it's a question of 
production. We're trying to get as many of these vests produced as 
possible. In fact, the Pentagon has even enlisted three additional 
companies to produce these vests. Well, it is about time.
  Back in Ohio we have an old saying, it does no good to close the barn 
door after the horse has left the barn. Why were these protective 
devices not available before our soldiers were sent into battle? 
General Abizaid, testifying before a Senate committee, said he did not 
have an answer to that question. He said, I cannot answer why we went 
into conflict with an insufficient supply of these vests.
  Somebody ought to take responsibility. The President frequently talks 
about the need for personal responsibility. Who was responsible at the 
Pentagon, in our defense establishment, for this gross oversight? I 
think the Secretary owes the American people an answer, and I hope he 
responds to my letter in an expeditious and prompt manner.

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