[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 53 (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H2627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN SUPPORT OF LIEUTENANT PANTANO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, today is the second day of 
the Article 32 hearing for Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, a marine 
who I have talked about at great length who has served our Nation 
bravely in both Gulf Wars.
  In an action of self-defense a year ago, Lieutenant Pantano made a 
split-second battlefield decision to shoot two Iraqi insurgents who 
refused to follow his orders to stop their movement towards him. Two 
and one-half months later, a sergeant under his command, who never even 
saw the shooting and who was earlier demoted for his lack of leadership 
abilities, accused him of murder. Because of that, Lieutenant Pantano 
today continues to face an Article 32 hearing where a hearing officer 
will determine whether he will face a court-martial for two counts of 
premeditated murder.
  Mr. Speaker, today's hearing came to a halt when it became apparent 
that Lieutenant Pantano's accuser, Sergeant Coburn, had recently 
violated his superior's orders not to give interviews on this case. The 
defense showed that he has interviewed with many media outlets. Just 
last week, New York Magazine ran a cover story on this case with 
multiple quotes from Sergeant Coburn. It is clear that his testimony 
cannot be considered credible.
  What is happening to this young man is an injustice. I see absolutely 
no way these charges can move forward any further when the accuser and 
key witness in this case is an individual who did not see the incident, 
has continually disobeyed orders, and who has clearly made it his 
mission to defame the character and integrity of a superior who demoted 
him for poor performance.
  Lieutenant Pantano has served this Nation in great honor. My personal 
experience with him and his family convinced me that he is a dedicated 
family man who loves his Corps and his country. By all accounts, he was 
an exceptional marine.
  I hope that in the next day or two as these hearings end, the hearing 
officer comes to the same conclusion that I and many like me have come 
to, that Lieutenant Pantano should never have been charged in the first 
place, and that all charges against him are dropped. I hope and pray 
that the truth will prevail.
  Mr. Speaker, I have put in a resolution, House Resolution 167, to 
support Lieutenant Pantano as he faces trial. I hope that my colleagues 
in the House will take some time to read my resolution and look into 
this situation for themselves. But, most of all, I hope it is not 
necessary for us to discuss this further after this week.
  I close with a quote from a witness in today's trial, Navy Corpsman 
George ``Doc'' Gobles, who was present during the shooting, but did not 
actually see anything. He did, however, testify to the character and 
leadership of Lieutenant Pantano. When he was asked about Lieutenant 
Pantano on the stand earlier today, he said, ``I just felt a sense of 
security when a situation arose, I knew he would be able to take care 
of it. I felt the safest with this platoon, more than any other platoon 
in our company, more than anything because of Lieutenant Pantano and 
his leadership.''
  Mr. Speaker, as I close I want to mention that his mother, who is a 
wonderful lady from New York whom I have had the pleasure of talking to 
on several occasions, has set up an Internet Web site. It is 
www.defendthedefenders.org, and I would ask my colleagues to please 
look into this and join me on House Resolution 167. I ask the good Lord 
in heaven to please bless Lieutenant Pantano and his family, and I ask 
the good Lord to please bless all of our men and women in uniform and 
their families, and I ask God to please bless America.

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