[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9253-9254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    LEGAL RELIEF FOR SERVICEMEMBERS

  (Ms. GRANGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to hear that Petty Officer 
Second Class Matthew McCabe was acquitted of all charges against him in 
relation to the capture and detention of Ahmed Hashim Abed, a 
conspirator in the 2004 murder of four U.S. contractors in Fallujah.
  Mr. McCabe can now rejoin his shipmates, Petty Officer Julio Huertas 
and Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, who were both acquitted of all 
charges as well, with the juries reaching the same verdicts.
  While these have been acquitted, what is left behind is significant 
legal debt. All three men sought civilian counsel. Based on the results 
of these trials, I can understand their decision. Up against the United 
States Government in court, the soldiers faced prosecution with 
unlimited resources.
  Today I am introducing the Service Member Legal Relief Act, which 
reimburses soldiers who seek the best defense available and are 
subsequently acquitted, or the charges dropped, in cases relating to 
the handling of terrorists. Our warfighters face great personal risk 
every day on the front lines

[[Page 9254]]

 in the global war on terror. They are right to defend themselves in 
court against egregious claims from known terrorists.
  We need these men on the front lines to continue battling those who 
are actively trying to kill Americans at home and abroad. If a court 
finds that they have done nothing wrong and have simply executed their 
mission, we should repay their legal fees and get them back into action 
as quickly as possible. That's exactly what my legislation does.

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