[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 19, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H3235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SECRETARY OF DEFENSE SHOULD HOLD HIMSELF ACCOUNTABLE

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this morning one of the 
military personnel whose actions were considered part of the horrific 
acts in the Iraqi prison stands for his court-martial. The words 
offered were a deep apology as members of his community indicated his 
service to his community, the kind of human being he was and to them 
still remains.
  The reason why I rise is because his indictment and court-martial 
today does not in any way take away the ultimate responsibility all the 
way to the Secretary of Defense. Nothing I have heard from the 
Secretary of Defense commends me to believe that he should not go, and 
he frankly should hold himself accountable for the lack of procedures 
and lack of training and the lack of training given to these enlisted 
National Guard and others who came there without training, without 
resources, despite the fact that we all should know right from wrong.
  Today, with the Defense authorization bill, nothing in the bill 
speaks to this issue; and this bill is wracked with problems because it 
does not address the tragedy in Iraq.

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