moran from kansas. for what purpose does gentleman rise? without objection, the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. burton: tonight, i was going to talk about health care. i think that subject has been covered fairly well by my predecessors but will be talking about it later this week. but what i would like to talk about is what my colleague from north carolina just talked about is the rules of engagement in the conflict in afghanistan and iraq. one of the things that really surprised me is we have three navy seals that are being court martialed for capturing an al qaeda terrorist in fallujah, iraq, and this terrorist took four american contractors, one a retired navy seal, he tore -- tort turted them and burpped their bods and hung them in the streets. most of them saw that. but this man is an al qaeda triret, one of the leaders over there and we have been after him for some time. we sent the three navy seals to get him. these navy seals and many of the super trained military personnel we have do an outstanding job in risk their lives. in fact, in afghanistan, we lost 19 navy seals doing their job not too long ago when they went after an al qaeda terrorist. . they captured this terrorist and they brought him back so that he could be questioned and dealt with. they turned him over to the iraqi military for a couple days and then he was turned back over to them and then he said that he had been hit in the stomach by one of the navy seals and he had a split lip. now, bear in mind that this guy had murdered and tortured four american contractors and held their -- hung their bodies from a bridge and he was complaining because he was hit in the stomach and had a bloody lip. well, the navy seals said that they didn't do that and there's several witnesses that said they didn't do that but one person off in the distance said he saw some kind of an altercation. and because of that they're being court marshaled. now, get this, madam speaker, they're being court marshaled for risking their lives and capturing a terrorist who killed and tortured four american contractors, we believe was involved in beheading some other americans. i can't believe it. i don't understand what the administration and what our defense department's doing. we should be going after these people and we can't go after them with kid gloves. we can't keep -- we can't coddle them. these people are terrorists. and my colleague from north carolina talked about the rules of engagement. now in afghanistan we have military personnel over there that are said when and how they can shoot at the enbhoy may be firing at them. and i've been told that many of the taliban and al qaeda terrorists over there, if they see they're going to be hit or attacked they'll drop their guns after firing it at the american personnel and our nato allies. it's just crazy. you can't run a war like that. and so i'd like to say to the defents department and to the president of the united states -- defense department and the president of the united states if he were listening, i know i can't talk to him directly becauseky only talk to the house and my colleagues, -- because i can only talk to the house and my colleagues. we can't run a war like this. we have to go after the terrorists no holds barred. if we catch them and they're terrorists we should bring them to justice or kill them. the just that simple. and we shouldn't be holding our military personnel like these three navy seals up to a standard that's impossible for them to be able to attain. they have to do their job, they risk their lives, many of them get kill or come back maimed. i've seen what the horrible things that happen in war and ow they lose their arms and legs but they do that to help us maintain our freedom and our democracy. our republic. and so i hope that somebody in the defense department may be listening and paying attention, madam speaker, and in the administration. we need to take the gloves off of our men and women in combat and let them know we're behind them 100% and these navy seals should not be court marshaled as is the case right now. we have sent 140,000 petitions to the defense department asking for this case to be dropped. i hope it will be dropped. but we're not going to let this thing go away. we're going to to fight for these navy seals -- fight -- we're going to fight for these navy seals. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. mr. defazio of oregon. ms. kaptur of ohio. ms. jackson lee of texas. ms. foxx of north carolina. mr. lincoln diaz-balart of florida. mr. diaz-balart: thank you, madam speaker. inside the gulag of prisons in the caribbean totalitarian state of the castro brothers a few days ago six heroes managed to get a statement out of one of the prisons. and i'd like to read it at this time. we continue to suffer cruel treatment, inhuman, degrading treatment and even torture in the communist regime's prisons. we ask all who support cuba's freedom to between march 12 and march 31 unite in short periods of fasting and study of the bible, demanding the liberation of all political prisoners and liberty and democracy in cuba, to engage in short fasts and prayer sessions in your homes, churches or other public gathering places and speak out in articles and conferences to reflect upon and help implement through peaceful, just and patriotic means the long-sought objectives of the cuban people. this statement is from julio, recardow -- ricardo and others who are in a prison in cuba. this was sent march 3. the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies was formed this last friday, madam speaker. under the leadership of lithuania that is chairing the community of democracies. and especially a magnificent diplomat, ambassador -- an ambassador. lithuania led to form a parliamentary assembly, a parliamentary form, and the first meeting was held in lithuania on friday. and the first resolution by motion of the new president of the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies, the first resolution of that parliamentary forum of the committee of democracies i'd like to read. it's titled, calling for support of cuba's pro-democracy movement. and the convening meeting of the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies, lithuania, march 12, 2010. whereas the pro-democracy movement in cuba has grown at a rapid pace over the last three years and specifically expressions of the movement are evident today in the explosion of bloggers and independent journalists, musicians, artists, writers and others who are using their talents to denounce the atrocities of the dictatorship all while putting forth new ideas to the transition of democracy. whereas there are still extraordinary obstacles to overcome such as the continued repression by the totalitarian dictatorship, extremely liberated access to the internet . whereas the dictatorship is fearful of the growth of the pro-democracy movement, whereas the message of the movement is coherent and clear in demanding freedom for all cuban political prisoners, beginning with those who are gravely ill inside the prisons. freedom of expression and fair, multiparty elections with international supervision, whereas is common position of the cuban pro-democracy movement requires recognition, dissemination and solidarity on the part of the international community. whereas now more than ever the cuban pro-democracy movement requires that the democratic community take concrete steps to demonstrate its solidarity. now therefore it is resolved by the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies that it condemns the brutality of the cuban regime against cuban political prisoners, expresses support for the pro-democracy movement, honors cuban pro-democracy fighters such as the marcher and expresses its admiration for the efforts of other hee owes, calls for the immediate -- heroes, calls for the immediate release of cuban political prisoners and calls on the democratic community to take concrete steps in demonstrating their sol cater with the cuban pro-democracy -- solidarity with the cuban pro-democracy movement. by providing assistance to the movement, urging foreign diplomatic posts in savannah to strengthen contacts with activists on the island, encouraging foreign dickny tears to visit cuba for the purpose of meeting with pro-democracy activists and looking for opportunities to support the position of the cuban pro-democracy movement in the international community. this action by the parliamentary forum of the community of democracies deserves commendation. those heroes in the gulag who are suffering today are the leaders of cuba tomorrow. they deserve our support. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: u.n. of january 6, 2009, -- under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, mr. carter is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader. mr. carter: thank you, madam speaker. mr. carter: for the past about, i don't know, 12 to 18 months i've been coming on the floor of the house to talk about the rule of law. the rule of law is the underpinning upon which our society is built. we talked about this over and over. we talked about it in terms of ethical issues that pertain to people in this house, we talk about it in terms of criminal actions, we talked about it in terms of what's going on with our military. you heard some speakers here tonight raise some issues concerning how we fight wars, rules of engagement, all of these are rules we set for ourselves in some form or fashion. well, i've also been on this floor talking about the fact that political correctness in my humble opinion is becoming so rampant in our society that we forget the why of what we're doing. because we're so afraid of offending someone. i am from central texas. my district includes the largest military facility as far as soldiers are concerned on the face of the globe. fort hood, texas. i think everybody will always -- those of us in central texas, we know fort hood and we have a lot of great thoughts about the great soldiers out there, great thoughts about the great commanders that serve at fort hood, about the awesome accomplishments of the solders who have passed through for the -- soldiers who have passed through fort hood, fighting our nation's battles on every shore you can imagine and in this country dating back to the civil war, fort wood doesn't -- fort hood doesn't date back to the civil war but it's named after a civil war soldier. we're proud of fort hood. but unfortunately because of something that happened this year fort hood will also be identified always in the minds of the american citizens as a place where a terrorist stabbed people in the back by walking down the line of soldiers and shooting soldiers just standing in line either checking in from being -- going to war or checking out, getting ready to go to war. they were not armed, they were not doing anything more than what's required of them by the army, to process into or out of a facility. and yet a man who's now, we call him the accused, but over 200 people witnessed mr. hasan go on a shooting rampage killing soldiers who were doing nothing more than standing in line. or processing another soldier. these were not people that were at war or were armed to defend themselves. had they been armed to defend themselves, mr. hasan wouldn't have gotten off more than one shot before he would have died because these were professional shoulders -- soldiers who knew exactly how to take care of business. but they were not armed. and in fact they were in a safe place. that's the sad thing. they were in a safe place. a place where they should have been safe. where they thought they were safe. and where maybe never again they will think that they are safe. because of what happened that day. now, this was not some terrorist that sneaked into our country. this was a man that had joined the united states army and through the goodness of the american citizen and the american taxpayer received a medical degree with a psychiatric specialty and all of this was paid for by the united states army. . his post-residencey training and his residency to psychiatry all paid for by the oons government. he -- by the united states government. he was an american citizen. and yet homo jid hadism, and some of that is in the news this week, caused this man to go out and murder, 13 people and one unborn child and ruined or wounded 13 additional people. one sold year is watching and he is sitting in a hospital in south austin. he was shot multiple times and had a plate put in his head and was rejected and is going to have another one put in his head. when i talked to his father, he said, two deployments, we prayed and worried about our son and he came out without a scratch. he's at home, where he should be safe and this animal killed him, almost killed him. and he is surviving through his heart being big and tough and having a family and army that supports him. but this young man had been so successful in his last deployment, they were send sending him to officers' candidate school. so he wasn't stationed at fort hood, but transition ong through there when he was shot. he still hopes to be an officer in the united states army and we are hopeful he will be, but he is a seriously wounded soldier, but he is going to make it and hopefully get back in the army that he loves. this is the domestic terrorist who decided to take it upon himself to take on the fight at fort hood, not a real fight, a one-sided fight, the only guy with a guy -- he had two of them. and he got to hoot who he wanted to shoot and he shot men and women in uniform. i don't know about you, but i think this was just another theater of war, wars we have been fighting in iraq and wars we have been fighting in afghanistan against these terrorists who indiscriminately think they have the right to kill in whatever cause they call it. some would say it is religious fanatics, others would say they are jihaddists and have fanatical following, but whatever it is, we have been at war now for 10, 12 years. and as we were told when it started, it's going to be a long fight, maybe the longest in the history of the republic and it's approaching that now. so, i think these young men and women were killed on the battlefield of fort hood and that's why i introduced a piece of legislation to have them to get the kind of benefits who get killed or wounded in combat get. and that is that if there are medals to be awarded, they should get a medal. if they are wounded, a purple heart. i heard a story of a sergeant who was there with several of his troops, a sergeant was shot four times and as the man lowered the pistol to fire the fifth time, one of his enlisted men, thinking he couldn't take any more, jumped in between the shooter and the sergeant to make his sergeant and took the three other rounds that were fired. now, had that taken place on the battlefield, i'm sure that would be something that would be heroism in the line of fire. and i think that young man should be awarded something like the bronze star, silver star, something like that. i don't know. i'm not saying what medal, but he ought to get a medal for it. and they ought to get -- if there are families that were from this combat experience, either lost a loved one or injured from this battle at fort hood, i think they ought to get extended combat benefits that we give our soldiers that we give them when they are in harm's way. if the american people hear that, they would say, sure they ought to get that, because the testimony will be when this trial comes out, because i talked to a lot of the soldiers that were there, that he was shooting soldiers. if he hit any civilians, it's just because he missed. but he was walking down the line shooting soldiers. he was declaring war on the american sold year. i wanted to talk -- soldier. i wanted to talk about fort hood. we got a report that doesn't even mention radical jihaddist or the name of the shooter and i'm afraid it was done because they were afraid to step on somebody's toes. i was told they wanted to protect the prosecution of this man and being a judge who tried cases in his courtroom for 20 years, including five or six capital murder cases, i can assure you if you can't approve a case with two eye witnesses, you have a problem with your lawyers. i won't say what i think, because i think it was wrong to not report accurately who the person was. i'm joined by a former federal prosecutor, mike mccaul, my friend and colleague from texas. and i'm glad he has come to join us and i yield to mr. mccaul, whatever time he wishes to consume. mr. mccaul: i thank you for hosting this leadership hour and your great leadership on this issue. you and i see this same way. you were a judge, i was a federal prosecutor, we respect the rule of law, but we respect the truth. and we call it like it is. we call it like we see it. that's what texans do. and this matter has been swept under the rug. we're not calling it what it is. you and i were the first two members of congress to stand up and say, you know what, there was an act of terrorism that occurred the other day at fort hood. that was the act of a terrorist. not some criminal defendant. this was an act of terrorism. you stood up, representing fort hood, in your usual way, and said that's what it was and i stood up, and it took months before the secretary of homeland security came before our committee and acknowledged what we said all along, that this was an act of terrorism. i congratulate you for your bill, which acknowledges it for what it was. and that was, an act of war on u.s. soil, combat, recognizing the victims and their families, giving them the combat pay that they deserve. you and i, we're at the ceremony, the memorial service, one of the most dramatic services that i have ever attended. i know the gentleman feels the same way. i want to hold up a picture of that tragic day where we had 13 pairs of combat boots, 13 rifles, 13 helmets, honoring the dead and one unborn child, 43 injured, two of those injured standing next to me in this photograph. and i asked them the question, because they're the best evidence, they are the best evidence. what happened that day? they were shot by him. what did he say to you? and these two said, congressman, he screamed as he gunned down my colleagues in cold blood and wounded 43 soldiers on the base, the largest military installation in the country. and who is this man? i know general cohen was at the ceremony and i said would you have liked to have known a major on your base was making communications with the top al qaeda operative? sure i would have. what happened that day? the joint terrorism task risk i used to work with when i was a prosecutor had that evidence. a department of defense had that evidence. but for a variety of reasons, we questioned witnesses on this and did not want to share that with the commander of fort hood. that was for a variety of reasons. but for god's sakes, let the commanding officer know he has a major -- this isn't an ordinary event, a major talking to an al qaeda operative, a man who has come to our attention recently with the christmas bomber. but who is mr. hassan? and thank god he is a terrorist that is going to face a military tribunal. well, he was born from a jordanian immigrants. each of these as the case unfolded, if you will, raised a flag as to who is this man and we talk a lot about connecting the dots, but these were dots that were popped up that failed to be acted upon. why weren't they acted upon, a man who said his allegiance was to the koran and not to the constitution, a man who described the war on terrorism as a war against islam, according to a doctor who was in a graduate program with him, a man who argued that muslims were being