[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17952-17954]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               MESSAGES THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Gohmert) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I do want to commend my friend from 
Georgia. He speaks eloquently.
  I hated to lose dear friend, John Linder, from here in this body. He 
was a brilliant man, with great class. But since he is gone, I am 
delighted to have Rob Woodall here in his stead--just clear-thinking, 
articulate, and makes the case that the American people need to hear.

                              {time}  1330

  Speaking of messages, Mr. Speaker, the American people need to hear, 
this is November 5, 2015. It was November 5, 2009, when a major in the 
United States Army at Fort Hood, Texas, killed Americans.
  He had given plenty of warning signs that he was a ticking time bomb 
who was going to kill Americans, particularly American soldiers, 
especially if he were ordered to go overseas because he would much 
prefer to kill American soldiers than he would go overseas and risk 
killing a fellow Muslim.
  Having heard about people in the United States Army, as I was in for 
4 years, who had to deal with Major Hasan, it is appalling that 
political correctness led to this man's being allowed to remain in the 
military, ever being promoted, and being assigned to counsel troubled 
soldiers. Incredible. But political correctness has become more and 
more prominent.
  It was November 5, 2009. President Obama had been in office since 
January of that year. Major Hasan had been in the military during the 
Bush administration. He should never have been promoted.
  There were warning signs that we heard about after the fact, but 
nobody wanted to be the one to stand up and say: ``This man is a 
threat. He is a radical Islamist. He is a threat not only to the good 
order and discipline of the United States military, he is a threat to 
the very lives of our military members.''
  Mr. Speaker, our military let those victims down at Fort Hood, Texas, 
before the shooting ever occurred. That is almost unbearable. But what 
becomes unbearable is the fact that 6 years later victims of Major 
Hasan who are still alive are still being mistreated by this 
administration.
  An article by Jacob Brooks and J.C. Jones in the Killeen Daily Herald 
today in the paper said: ``Six years after the November 5, 2009, 
shooting at Fort Hood, at least one victim is still fighting for 
overdue benefits. Former Fort Hood Staff Sergeant Alonzo Lunsford, Jr., 
said pain, betrayal, disrespect, and patriotism all come to mind when 
he thinks about that tragic day. He said, `It is a lot. It is really a 
lot that goes through my head.'''
  He was shot seven times by Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist who 
opened fire on unsuspecting fellow soldiers at a Fort Hood medical 
processing building for deploying soldiers.
  Six years later, the building has been torn down. Many of the 
soldiers who were there have since moved on, are either no longer in 
the Army or stationed elsewhere.
  Hasan, an Army major at the time of the shooting, was found guilty of 
killing 12 soldiers and 1 civilian on August 23, 2013, following a 12-
day court martial at Fort Hood. Days later he was sentenced to die and 
is currently on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, awaiting 
automatic appeals.
  Mr. Speaker, it took Congress battling and finally putting language 
in a bill that the Army and the Defense Department finally could not 
ignore that finally put enough pressure on the Army to do the right 
thing by these victims, and that is--for Heaven's sake, they were 
victims of an attack in the war against America by radical Islam.
  As Muslim friends in the Middle East, leaders in the Middle East who 
are Muslims, have asked on different visits I have had in the Middle 
East: Why is it that this administration does not understand radical 
Islamists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, is at war with the 
United States? You keep helping the people who are at war with you, the 
Muslim Brotherhood.
  They recognize it all over the Middle East. Muslims over there 
scratch their heads--moderate Muslims--and wonder what is wrong with 
America.
  I met a number of the survivors of the shooting 6 years ago today 
when the Purple Hearts were finally awarded. A number of us were there 
from Congress because it was an important day and they needed to know 
Members of Congress do care.
  So we were there as representatives of this body and all of those 
within it who recognize the loss and the sacrifice occurred at the 
hands of someone who is at war with the United States, a part of the 
bigger radical Islamist movement.
  It is rather ironic that, as we think about and talk about the 
violations of the Iran treaty--yes, it is a treaty, despite the 
Senate's unwillingness to call it what it is and the administration 
obviously won't call it what it is--but the

[[Page 17953]]

violations of the Iran treaty by Iran are still resulting in this 
administration's sending billions and billions and billions and 
billions of dollars to people who want to kill us and to eliminate our 
way of life.
  Yet, this same administration that is sending billions and billions 
and billions of dollars to our enemy can't scrape together mere 
hundreds of dollars to send to someone like Staff Sergeant Alonzo 
Lunsford.
  The article says he is now in North Carolina. I was impressed when I 
met him. He seems to be a very sharp man, a patriot, someone who cares 
about America. But like many of the victims, the wounds go even deeper 
than the shots that were fired. In his case, seven times he was shot. 
Oh, what a horrible day.
  And, yet, this administration becomes accomplices to the after-the-
crime episode and damage by still refusing to acknowledge it for what 
it was and pay these patriotic servicemembers the money they have 
coming as people who were wounded in the line of duty.
  It is ridiculous that this administration will send billions and 
billions to our enemies who have already said that, with all the 
billions Obama is going to make sure that we get, we are going to be 
able to finance more, help Hamas more, help Hezbollah more. We are 
going to be able to help those who kill Americans.
  What does the administration do? They want to make sure that nothing 
gets in the way of their sending money to people that want to kill 
Americans and people who have killed Americans.
  A report out just this week indicates that Iran may be responsible 
for at least 12 percent of the Americans killed in Iraq. I can't help 
but think, based on those I have talked to in trips to Iraq and those 
who have researched even further, that when we get to the bottom line, 
it will likely be a lot more than 12 percent.
  But even so, the country, the radical Islamist leaders in charge, are 
guilty of killing Americans, and this administration rewards them by 
sending them money and, whether it is intentional or sheer intentional 
neglect, refuses to acknowledge the patriotism and the act of war 
against our members of the United States Army and the United States 
military and the one civilian that was killed, refuses to acknowledge 
and adequately appreciate those patriots that were killed or wounded in 
the line of duty in an act of war by Major Nidal Hasan.
  So, Mr. Speaker, the question arises: If this administration, either 
through neglect or intent, is so calloused and uncaring towards its own 
military members, then what is going on now that is going to result in 
future Americans, military members, being killed? How many more Major 
Nidal Hasans are there in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines?
  God, I hope and pray that people like Nidal Hasan are not still being 
promoted because nobody wants to--in this administration, under this 
administration, under this Commander in Chief--rise up and say: This 
guy is giving all the indications of being a radical Islamist that will 
one day explode and kill Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, we have seen record numbers of generals--officers with 
stars on their epaulets--being fired. Personally, I recognize Edward 
Snowden to be a traitor. I have tried felony cases, including death 
penalty cases.
  Coupled with my experience here in Congress of trying to advise and 
help whistle-blowers and having seen this administration turn against 
whistle-blowers, use their own department they work in to destroy their 
careers, use the Department of Justice to harass them, and if it is 
somebody that has very damaging evidence about wrongdoing by this 
administration, then they will convene a grand jury to investigate and 
harass, never mind that it drives a spouse to the hospital near 
breakdown, never mind the damage that it does to those patriotic 
whistle-blowers who just want the government to do the right thing in 
all things.
  I have to recognize, if I were sentencing Edward Snowden for his 
treason, that in this administration someone that were to come forth--
if Edward Snowden had done this and come before superiors in this 
administration, he would likely have been destroyed, a grand jury 
convened, attempts to put him in jail, attempts to destroy his 
evidence.
  That would have to be taken as evidence in mitigation of whatever the 
sentence was for the treason because, under this administration, I have 
struggled with people who wanted to get the truth out.
  Where do you go? Eric Holder, as Attorney General, was not going to 
help a whistle-blower if they had information that was damaging to the 
administration. No. He was the head of the largest criminal defense 
firm in America defending the actions in this administration and going 
after and trying to destroy anybody who came forth with damaging 
evidence, particularly if it could have come before the election in 
2012.
  Loretta Lynch will always be a blot on the reputation of the United 
States Senate because she made clear she thought that the things Eric 
Holder did in violation of the Constitution, in contempt of Congress, 
the disingenuity and dishonesty, were okay in her book, and they 
confirmed her anyway. So the indications are things haven't gotten any 
better than they were.

                              {time}  1345

  What do you do if you are a patriotic whistleblower in this 
administration and you want to out Nidal Hasan, you want to come 
forward with documentation that shows this administration has acted 
inappropriately? It has been made clear to people, you raise your head 
up to try to speak up and speak truth, then we will make you rue the 
day you ever worked for the government.
  We won't help with mere hundreds of dollars to American patriots who 
were wounded in an act of war, and, obviously, 13 killed in an act of 
war by radical Islamists. We won't even call radical Islam what 
moderate Muslims in the Middle East recognize that it is. And a man of 
great courage I think will end up being recognized as one of the great 
leaders in the Middle East of any age. President el-Sisi gets the back 
of the hand most of the time from this administration. When he has had 
the courage to stand up to imams in a room, looking them in the eye, 
and say: It is time to take back our religion from the radicals.
  Because of his courage, because of his recognizing the threat that 
radical Islam is, not only to Christians and Jews, but to moderate 
Muslims, then there is no doubt there are people that want to kill him, 
when this administration ought to be doing everything they can to help 
them.
  I was asked by Egyptian leaders: Does your President not understand 
that the Apache helicopters that he promised the Muslim Brother Morsi 
that he withheld for so long, that we used those to keep the Suez Canal 
open, does he not want the Suez Canal open? Does President Obama not 
care? Well, that would certainly be the indication if you look at the 
actions of his administration.
  When I was in Egypt in September, people who desperately want to be 
friends with the United States, they yearn for freedom, they yearn for 
a free Egypt, free of radical Islam, even though they are Muslims 
themselves, they want to be friends with freedom-loving Americans, and 
yet with dozens and dozens and dozens of leaders from countries around 
the world, including Russia, top leaders from countries around the 
world, being there to note the incredible historic event in world 
history when Egypt, after having gotten rid of the radical Islamist 
Muslim Brother Morsi, who was refusing to keep his conduct within the 
requirements of their Constitution, was removed after the biggest 
peaceful demonstration in the history of the world. Over 30 million 
people are said to have gone to the streets to demand his removal.
  After Morsi is removed, people of vision like el-Sisi took over and 
they dug another lane to the one Suez Canal, so there are two lanes for 
a big part of it

[[Page 17954]]

there. That was a historic day in June. The people of Egypt should have 
been lauded by all of those in this administration.
  Yet, not only did this administration not care to recognize the great 
historic fete of Egypt struggling as it is to achieve greatness once 
again, they didn't even send anybody from Washington. My friend Darrell 
Issa went. Congress was represented.
  I was not allowed to go, of course, because Speaker Boehner wasn't 
allowing people like me who spoke up for what we believe is right to 
travel. And, according to his staff, Speaker Boehner saw taxpayer-
funded travel as a reward for people that apparently voted like he 
wanted them to, which kind of sounds like it would be a crime.
  But, nonetheless, we were represented. Congress was represented 
there, but not the administration. Leaders from around the world were 
there. Not this administration.
  It is time to recognize the good Muslims, the moderate Muslims in the 
world, with whom we can be friends, who want to be our friends, who 
want to work with us, and recognize those, like the Muslim Brotherhood, 
who want to destroy our way of life. And it is time to stop the 
political correctness that got 13 people killed at Fort Hood 6 years 
ago today and got so many more wounded.
  Since this administration doesn't want to properly recognize efforts 
to keep the Middle East peaceful and out of the hands of radical 
Islamists, like the Muslim Brotherhood, well, we had the Iran treaty 
that this administration pushed and the Senate refused to take up and 
vote on as a treaty.
  The Corker bill clearly didn't apply because the Iranian treaty did 
include terms about ballistic missiles, about weapons buying, about 
release of money under the sanctions. It did change the terms of the 
nonproliferation treaty. It was clearly a treaty.
  It really will be another blot on the Senate's reputation that they 
did not stop that. By taking a vote on ratification, it wouldn't have 
gotten the two-thirds required. And then we could have prevented the 
$100 billion plus--we are told $100 billion or so each year 
thereafter--that will be going to a country that, according to this 
news this week, where ```Death to America' Stands Despite the Nuclear 
Deal.'' This report from AFP, dated November 2, from Tehran, says, 
``the Islamic Republic will not abandon the slogan of `Death to 
America' despite its July nuclear accord with world powers.
  ``The martyr-nurturing nation of Iran is not at all prepared to 
abandoned the slogan of `Death to America' under the pretext of a 
nuclear agreement,'' 192 members of Iran's 290-seat parliament said in 
a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
  ``They said the slogan, chanted at the weekly Friday prayers in 
mosques and at protests, had `turned into the symbol of the Islamic 
republic and all struggling nations.'''
  So let's look, Mr. Speaker, at what has occurred since the Iran 
treaty that was not ratified was placed into being by this 
administration and by the Senate looking the other way.
  Well, they have had ballistic missile tests. They have had joint 
military operations with Russia and Syria.
  Those certainly violate the terms of the Iran deal.
  They have had open violations of international travel bans. We have 
had a cyber attack from there. We have had an arrest of a U.S. 
resident, Nazar Zaka. ``Death to America'' is still their chant.
  And yet here is this story from October 21 by Reuters. It says:
  ``The United States, Britain, France and Germany called on Wednesday 
for the United Nations Security Council's Iran sanctions committee to 
take action over a missile test by Tehran that they said violated a 
U.N. ban.
  ``In a letter containing details on the launch, they said the 
ballistic missile was `inherently capable of delivering a nuclear 
weapon.'
  ``The letter, seen by Reuters, was sent to the committee after the 
United States raised the issue in the 15-member Security Council.
  ```We trust that this information will assist the Committee in its 
responsibility to examine and take appropriate action in response to 
violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions,' they wrote.''
  ``Diplomats have said it was possible for the sanctions committee to 
blacklist additional Iranian individuals or entities if it determined 
that the missile launch had breached the U.N. ban. However, they said 
Russia and China, which have opposed the sanctions on Iran's missile 
program, might block any such moves.
  ```The United States will continue to press the Security Council to 
respond effectively to any future violations . . . Full and robust 
enforcement of all relevant U.N. measures is and will remain critical,' 
U.S. ambassador of the United Nations Samantha Power said in a 
statement on Wednesday.''
  Now, the reason that the United States has sent this letter, 
participated in it, asking the U.N. to take appropriate action, is 
because this administration is gutless to do what needs to be done. You 
have Iran, it has been confirmed, that killed so many hundreds 
responsible for the death of so many Americans. And this administration 
struck a bad deal with them that could never get two-thirds of the 
Senate to ratify it, so we just act like it is a treaty that is 
ratified, even though it isn't.
  But it is gutless to stand up to Iran and say: You violated the deal. 
We are not going to allow $100 billion to $150 billion to go to you 
while you continue to say ``death to America''; you continue to have 
ballistic missile tests; you continue to have joint operations, in 
violation of our deal, with Russia and Syria; you continue in open 
violation of international travel bans; you continue to attack us or 
have cyber attacks from your country; and you continue to stir up 
violence against the United States. You are not getting any money.
  How about giving just a little bit of that $100 billion to the 
victims of Nidal Hasan? How about giving it to the victims of radical 
Islamist violence? How about giving it to the victims of over 400 days 
in captivity in Iran under the Ayatollah Khamenei's leadership?
  This administration has got to act. This is outrageous.
  And then we have an International Business Times report, ``Iranian 
Airline Violates Terms of Nuclear Deal By Purchasing Planes To Use In 
Syrian War.'' This says:
  ``One of Iran's commercial airlines last week bought a UK-
manufactured jet with the aim of using it to deliver Iranian soldiers 
and weapons to Syria . . . The purchase of the aircraft by an Iranian 
concern represents a clear violation of the deal brokered by the 
administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.''
  It is outrageous. The Iran deal needs to be brought to an end. No 
more money needs to go to Iran. No money for killers, for terrorists, 
but money to the victims in our United States military.
  With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________