Congressman John Carter’s office sends the following update on the Fort Hood shooting victims.

Congressman John R. Carter (R-Texas) is re-introducing two bills that would help the families of the victims of the Fort Hood shooting receive benefits they deserve as well as protect soldiers and defense employees from retaliation for reporting radical Islamic threats.

Major Nidal Hasan is awaiting trial for the Nov. 5, 2009 shooting deaths of 14 people, including 12 service members, one civilian employee, and an unborn child. Thirty-two people were injured in that attack.

The Fort Hood Families Benefits Protection Act, HR 625 would award the military and civilian casualties of the 2005 Fort Hood attack the same status that was awarded to the casualties of the Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001. All of the casualties would be eligible for the Purple Heard Award or the Department of Defense civilian award equivalent.

The Military Whistleblower Protection Enhancement, HR 4267, Act would prevent service members and civilian defense employees, who alert the Department of Defense investigation or law enforcement of radical Islamic and other ideological terror threats, from being persecuted for political correctness.

“The men and women serving our country, whether in uniform or civilian clothes, should not have to face disciplinary retaliation and action for reporting what they see as security threats,” said Congressman Carter. “Failure to report such suspicions could be devastating to this nation. We cannot let another shooting, like the one that happened on Fort Hood, happen again.”

Both bills were introduced last session and did not make it through the approval process. Congressman Carter says that the Secretary of Defense has the authority to grant casualty status and since Secretaries Gates and Panetta refused, hopes this is a question asked of their replacement in the upcoming confirmation hearings for the next Secretary of Defense.