[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 1, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H13376]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NAVY SEALS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the Navy SEALs are the United States 
Navy's elite commandos. And last week we learned that they captured one 
of the most wanted terrorists in all of Iraq. Ahmed Hashim Abed was 
behind the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards 
in Fallujah in the year 2004. This ringleader of this ambush planned 
the murder of these four Americans in Fallujah. And these four 
Blackwater security guards, what they were doing was transporting 
supplies from one place to another.
  So he had planned, Abed had planned an ambush against these 
individuals. They are ambushed. They are murdered. The bodies of these 
four murdered Americans were then dragged through the streets, burned 
and hung from a bridge in Fallujah. Mr. Speaker, I've been to that very 
bridge in the year 2005, and you still have an eerie feeling knowing 
that four Americans were hung there in public view. The U.S. military, 
by the way, has put a plaque on that bridge in honor of those security 
guards.
  And so congratulations are in order to the Navy SEALs who captured 
the mastermind behind this ambush and the murder of these four 
Americans. We should be celebrating this achievement, and these Navy 
SEALs should be getting medals for their work doing what we've asked 
them to do. But that's not what is happening, Mr. Speaker. The military 
has decided to court-martial the Navy SEALs. It seems that this 
terrorist, Abed, claimed that he was punched in the mouth by the Navy 
SEALs, and he wants justice. He wants American justice.
  You know, it's the same mouth that preaches hate in the name of 
religion, the same mouth that demands death to America, the same big 
mouth that ordered the murder of the four Americans. So the SEALs must 
answer to this accusation by a terrorist that they captured. After all, 
the terrorist must have some of that American justice. Next thing we 
know, we'll be giving these terrorists on the battlefield their Miranda 
warnings. Oh, we already do that.
  Well, then after that, they're going to want to be tried in civilian 
courts in the United States. But we're already doing that as well. Have 
we gone a bit too far with the kid glove treatment that we treat these 
madmen, these terrorists, these people who kill Americans?
  The nation is at war, Mr. Speaker. You know, punching occurs in war. 
Shooting also occurs in war. Instead of a court-martial, the SEALs 
should be dispatched to go and capture another terrorist. But that's 
not happening. They are going to be court-martialed because some 
terrorist supposedly got a bruised mouth.
  The SEALs in question are Matthew McCabe, he's a special operations 
petty officer second class; Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe; and Petty 
Officer Julio Huertas. They are going to be court-martialed because 
some terrorist alleges they got punched in the mouth.
  It's ironic, Mr. Speaker, that the SEALs will be arraigned next 
Monday, December 7. December 7, everybody in the United States Navy 
remembers that day. See, it's been 68 years since the Navy and America 
was attacked on December the 7th at Pearl Harbor. And now these 
individuals, ironically, will be arraigned that day.
  Mr. Speaker, can you imagine someone in World War II, a soldier, a 
marine, somebody in the United States Navy, being tried for punching an 
enemy combatant in the mouth during World War II? You know, we should 
be commending the Navy SEALs for doing the job that we've asked them to 
do. They're the best that we have in this country. We've asked them to 
do tough assignments, and we should be supporting them. The terrorists 
ought to be on trial for murdering Americans. And the Navy SEALs ought 
to be getting medals for doing what we have asked them to do. And I say 
congratulations to the Navy SEALs for a job well done.
  And that's just the way it is.

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