[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 7, 2013)]
[House]
[Page H2462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NIDAL HASSAN'S ACTIONS SHOULD BE CLASSIFIED AS TERRORISM

  (Mr. ROONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Speaker, on November 5, 2009, Nidal Hassan, after 
coordinating with known terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki, opened fire 
at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 14 and wounding 32 others.
  This was clearly an act of terror, yet the Department of Defense and 
the Army have classified this case as workplace violence. This is an 
insult to the brave men and women who were killed and injured that day. 
But this isn't about semantics; this is about who we are as Americans.
  By declaring their deaths as injuries as a result of workplace 
violence, the Department denied these soldiers and their families 
benefits like VA health care, counseling and critical mental health 
services, disability benefits, and combat-related special compensation. 
It's also made them ineligible to receive the Purple Heart.
  As someone who served in the Army at Fort Hood, I can say without 
hesitation that the Army should be ashamed of this poor level of care 
and outright disrespect it has shown our soldiers.
  Yesterday, I joined one Republican and one Democrat, Congressman Wolf 
and Congressman Fattah, in sending a letter to Secretary Hagel asking 
them to change the designation from workplace violence to combat-
related.
  Let us send a message that that is who we are as Americans and that 
is how we treat our veterans.

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