[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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