[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6125]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1930
                    IN SUPPORT OF LIEUTENANT PANTANO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kuhl of New York). 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, last Wednesday I spoke 
about Marine 2nd Lieutenant Ilario Pantano and his struggle to defend 
his actions in battle.
  April of 2004 was a time of widespread violence from Iraqi 
insurgents. It was the deadliest month of the war.
  On April 15, 2004, Lieutenant Pantano was faced with a very difficult 
decision. Just 3 days after he had witnessed a deadly ambush, his unit 
received a tip about a weapons stockpile. Leery of the tip, he led a 
unit of 40 men to the area and immediately noticed two Iraqis in a 
vehicle who appeared to be escaping the area.
  After stopping the vehicle, he ordered the two Iraqis to search the 
vehicle themselves so as to avoid a booby trap for himself or the 
others under his command. Suddenly, he said, the two insurgents pivoted 
towards him after disobeying his command to stop, and in a split-second 
decision Lieutenant Pantano decided he had to fire his weapon to 
protect himself and his men.
  It was not until 2\1/2\ months later that his radio operator 
mentioned the incident to another Marine, who then accused Lieutenant 
Pantano of murder. He now is facing charges of two counts of murder.
  Mr. Speaker, I have met Lieutenant Pantano and his family. I have 
watched again and again the ``Dateline'' interview Stone Phillips 
conducted with Lieutenant Pantano, and I have researched this situation 
at length. I believe Lieutenant Pantano is truthful in his recounts of 
the events of April of 2004 and he was justified in his action while 
having to make a split-second battlefield decision.
  I question why the radio operator would wait 2\1/2\ months to tell 
his report of the events if he really believed murder had taken place. 
Furthermore, as is noted in the ``Dateline'' video, the sergeant was 
never even present for the actual shooting. How can he make a judgment 
call on something he did not see?
  Mr. Speaker, I have put in a resolution, H. Res. 167, to support 
Lieutenant Pantano as he faces yet another difficult fight for his 
life. I hope that my colleagues in the House will take some time to 
read my resolution and look into this situation for themselves. I 
believe a great unfairness has occurred here; and as the United States 
House of Representatives, we stand by our brave men and women in 
uniform as they protect and serve our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, before closing, I would like to say that there is a Web 
site that his mother has established. It is called 
defendthedefenders.org, and may God continue to bless our men and women 
in uniform and bless America.

                          ____________________