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Lawmakers are divided on Fort Hood hearings

Congress is divided about how — and even whether — to move forward with independent investigations of the recent shootings at Fort Hood, Texas.

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee already has launched its own investigation, centered on the question of whether an officer allegedly opening fire on fellow soldiers on a military base is a case of domestic terrorism. The committee plans to hold public hearings as early as next week, although witnesses have not been announced.

The Senate Armed Services Committee seems content, for now, to get closed-door briefings from Army leaders about what they have discovered. Army Secretary John McHugh and Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey Jr. are scheduled to provide an update on the Army’s internal investigations in a closed briefing with committee members late Monday.

House Armed Services Committee leaders are divided about what to do. Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon of California, the panel’s ranking Republican, is pushing for a two-part committee investigation that would look at the actual shooting to determine if there are steps that can be taken to prevent a similar event, and whether commanders failed to notice warning signs in the alleged shooter, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.

“We owe it to the men and women in uniform, and their families, to better understand how and why the tragic incident took place; whether this was a terrorist incident; and whether there was sufficient actionable information available to Army and government authorities to have prevented this tragedy,” McKeon said in a Nov 10 statement. “We must take a close look at the command environment, which allegedly failed to respond to repeated warnings raised within Maj. Hasan’s chain of command.”

But Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., the House Armed Services Committee chairman who would have to approve any committee investigation, disagrees with that proposed course.

“We need to avoid jumping to any conclusions and give the Army and the FBI a chance to do their jobs,” Skelton said in a statement.

“It is important that we get to the bottom of this incident, but we must be careful to proceed in a deliberate, studied manner that will not interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI and the Army’s criminal investigative service,” Skelton said. “As a former prosecuting attorney, I want to make sure that our actions do not jeopardize the investigation or future prosecution of this case.

“We are closely monitoring the progress of the current joint investigation to ensure that it is thorough, and we will follow through as a committee when we have all of the facts.”

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Independent Democrat from Connecticut who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, does not seem inclined to wait.

In a Nov. 9 statement, Lieberman said the “murderous attack should be examined from every angle to make sure nothing like this occurs again.”

“While we in no way will interfere with the Army or FBI’s criminal investigations, the committee will be conducting an investigation into what Maj.. Nidal Malik Hasan’s motives were, whether the government missed warning signs that should have led to expulsion, and what lessons we can learn to prevent such future attacks,” he said.

The committee’s ranking Republican, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, agreed. “It is important for our nation to understand what precipitated this horrific attack so that we may work to prevent future incidents,” she said in a statement. “The investigation is about understanding the factors that led Maj. Hasan — a senior Army officer and a psychiatrist trained to ease human suffering — to kill and injure so many of his fellow soldiers. We owe that to our military, to their families, and to their communities.

“Our military must be prepared to detect the warning signs for potential violence and to intervene and prevent similar attacks in the future,” Collin said. “This hearing is vital to assuring the men and women serving in our military and their families that their safety is a top priority for us.”