Fort Hood Shooting

Floor Speech

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, of course, the Nation will observe Veterans Day this week, as we have each year, in commemoration of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month with the end of World War I. This commemoration is one of special importance this year. We are in the midst of two wars where literally tens of thousands of Americans risk their lives each day in service of our country. It gives us a heightened awareness of our military and the men and women who show such extraordinary courage in serving.

Many of us have taken on the task of reaching out to the families in our States who have lost soldiers in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I took on this responsibility a few years ago, I had no idea that by 2009, I would still be writing notes of condolence to families in Illinois. But it continues and, of course, other tragedies intervene.

Just last week, there was the tragedy at Fort Hood, claiming two lives of Illinois soldiers, as well as those of 11 others, and another 28 seriously wounded. It is a reminder of the danger of this commitment that each soldier makes. It is a reminder too that each of us needs to have gratitude for their service, not only on this day when we commemorate veterans and their service but around the calendar year.

We seem to be more focused on veterans issues in the midst of war, and that is no surprise. In my office last week, the major veterans organizations came in and talked about the fact that there seems to be more interest in veterans hospitals and veterans benefits and the GI bill than ever before, and it has a lot to do with the fact that we are in the midst of a war.

We also understand this tragedy at Fort Hood has brought a sharpened awareness of the vulnerability and the commitment of our soldiers. All Americans were saddened by this horrific outburst of violence. That the brave men and women who are trained to defend our Nation at war should be cut down on a U.S. Army post on American soil apparently at the hands of an Army doctor is deeply shocking and painful. We grieve for these men and women who died in this despicable act. We pray for their families and the recovery of all those who were injured.

We pray for the soldiers and families stationed at Fort Hood, for the safety of all of our brave men and women in uniform wherever they are stationed. This horrendous attack touches us all deeply. But we know the horror of this tragedy, like the burdens of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, falls hardest on our servicemembers and their families. We want them to know our entire Nation stands with them.

Among the fallen at Fort Hood were two young soldiers from Chicago: PFC Michael Pearson of Bolingbrook, IL, and PVT Francheska Velez from the West Humboldt Park neighborhood in Chicago. Both of these fallen veterans were 21 years of age.

PFC Michael Pearson was an honor roll student in high school and a talented musician who taught himself to play the piano and was passionate about playing guitar. He joined the Army a little over a year ago. He has been training to defuse explosives and roadside bombs and was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan this January.

He was a devoted son. When his father was laid off from his job, Michael sent money home to buy new tires for the family car.

He leaves behind his mom and dad, Sheryll and Jeff, a sister and two brothers, including one who serves in the Illinois National Guard.

PVT Francheska Velez joined the Army right out of high school. She had already served a year in South Korea and 10 months in Iraq where she drove fuel tankers and disarmed bombs.

Friends say she wanted to make the military a career and hoped one day to be a psychologist and help soldiers cope with the stress of battle.

Private Velez had just returned from Iraq 3 days earlier, 3 days before the shooting, to begin maternity leave. Her father, Juan Guillermo Velez, a Colombian immigrant who never realized his dream of serving in the U.S. military, said his daughter was living his dream ``to be part of the military, part of the United States.''

In addition to her father, Private Velez leaves her mother Eileen and two older brothers.

Another young soldier from the Chicago area, PFC Najee Hull, of Homewood, IL, is among those wounded in the Fort Hood tragedy. Private Hull is also 21 years old. He was shot three times, twice in the back, once in the knee, as he was preparing to complete paperwork to be deployed to Afghanistan. He remains hospitalized.

I was meeting with representatives of these veterans service groups and lawyers who donate their time to help veterans when the names of the Fort Hood victims became known. There was a profound sense of sadness in the room.

The men and women who wear America's uniform are some of the finest people our Nation has to offer. They are patriots who are willing to sacrifice to protect each and every one of us. They and their families have endured great hardship during these wars. They are heroes, such as CAPT Russell Seager of Racine, WI. Captain Seager was a nurse practitioner who had worked at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Milwaukee with soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. He was 51 years of age. His uncle said he had been a ``helper'' all his life. Four years ago, he joined the Army Reserve. Captain Seager was scheduled to go to Afghanistan in December. He had gone to Fort Hood for training. He is among the 12 soldiers and one civilian who died there. He leaves a wife and 20-year-old son.

A few months ago, in an interview with Milwaukee's public radio station, Captain Seager explained his decision to enlist. He said:

I've always had a great deal of respect for the military and for service, and I just felt it was time that I stepped up and did it.

That is part of what defines America's military members and veterans. This Wednesday, we will remember and honor all our veterans, from Bunker Hill to Baghdad. We will remember, in particular, those brave men and women who lost their lives at Fort Hood.

President Obama, Army Chief of Staff General Casey, and Secretary of the Army John McHugh have ordered a thorough investigation into how this tragedy at Fort Hood occurred. The inquiry must happen. We need answers, and we need to do everything possible to ensure it never happens again. While the authorities are investigating, we also need to be thoughtful and reserve judgment about the proper response.

Consider this: One week before the gunman allegedly opened fire on his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, U.S. military investigators released a report regarding another horrific incident. Last May, an army sergeant, with 15 years in the military, killed five of his fellow soldiers on a military base in Baghdad. The soldiers, including an Army psychiatrist, were killed in a stress clinic where the gunman was being counseled. The soldier who committed the killings was just weeks away from finishing his third tour of duty in Iraq and had served previously in Bosnia and Kosovo. Until the terrible events at Fort Hood, the shooting at Camp Liberty was the worst episode of soldier-on-soldier violence.

The father of the soldier charged with the Camp Liberty killings said his son's job in Iraq was defusing bombs and that he probably saw ``a lot of carnage and a lot of things he shouldn't have seen, that nobody should see.'' The military investigators who looked into those deaths blamed a lack of adequate guidelines on how to handle soldiers under such severe distress.

To rush to judgment based on this new act of violence at Fort Hood is premature, certainly to the 3,500 Muslim Americans who proudly serve in our Nation's Armed Forces today. As you walk through the section of Arlington Cemetery devoted to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, you will find headstones with the crescent star alongside the crosses and Stars of David.

As investigators search for answers to what happened last week, we owe it to the brave men and women serving at Fort Hood and throughout our military to think clearly and act thoughtfully. We need a better understanding of what took place. Let us honor those who demonstrated the best our military has to offer when their lives were on the line at Fort Hood.

I yield the floor.

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