WASHINGTON -- Arkansas' delegation to the U.S. House accused the Defense Department on Thursday of violating federal law by failing to determine whether victims of a 2009 shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting station are eligible for Purple Hearts.
The four members, all Republicans with military backgrounds, signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on Thursday questioning why the department hasn't completed the review, which was required under the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
"As members of the Armed Forces, we find this continued inaction by the [department] disgraceful, as well as unlawful," the letter states.
The Defense Authorization Act required the department to review the circumstances of the Arkansas attack, as well as a shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, that killed 13 and wounded more than 30 people, and present the award if the victims were found to be eligible. It also required the department to review the criteria for receiving a Purple Heart and to create a way that victims of such attacks on American soil could be eligible for the decoration.
The department was ordered to report back to the House and Senate Armed Services committees within 180 days of President Barack Obama signing the National Defense Authorization Act. That deadline expired in June.
Defense Department spokesman Nate Christensen said in an email that the department has received the delegation's letter "and will respond promptly and directly to them."
In a June 24 letter to the committees' chairmen, the department wrote that it is "more appropriate" to include the mandated review of Purple Heart criteria in a broad review of all military decorations and awards scheduled to be completed in July 2015.
"Determining the relevancy of Purple Heart award criteria is an extremely sensitive issue, especially given the historic prestige and legacy of the Purple Heart," the department's letter states.
The Purple Heart, which shows George Washington's profile on a purple background and surrounded by a quarter-inch bronze border, is awarded by the president to military members killed or wounded in action, including in a terrorist attack, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Arkansas' U.S. senators and representatives repeatedly have pushed for legislation granting the commendations. Purple Heart recipients qualify for enhanced state and federal benefits.
U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton, a former Army captain, said in a statement that the delay is unacceptable.
"The men and women who lost their lives during the attacks on the Little Rock recruiting center and Ft. Hood demonstrated courage and valor. We should honor their sacrifice as we honor the sacrifice of all military service men and women."
In an interview, U.S. Rep. Tim Griffin, a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, said the Purple Heart criteria review should have been completed on time.
"How hard is this? You have tens of thousands of people working in the Pentagon and you can't get this report done?" Griffin said. "It's just ridiculous."
While there is no penalty for not doing the review, Griffin said members of the House and Senate could address it in the 2015 Defense Authorization Act, which is still being discussed.
The government considered the Arkansas and Texas attacks criminal acts, rather than an international terrorist attack, and as such, the victims were not awarded Purple Hearts.
On June 1, 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, a radical convert to Islam, attacked the Little Rock Army-Navy Career Center in the Ashley Square Shopping Center on Rodney Parham Road. Muhammad is serving a life sentence in prison and has said that he attacked the soldiers in retaliation for U.S. military actions in the Middle East.
Pvt. William Long, 23, of Conway, who had enlisted in the infantry in January 2009, died. Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, then 18, of Jacksonville was wounded but survived. He enlisted in October 2008 as a heavy construction equipment operator.
Griffin said the government should reconsider whether the shootings were terrorist attacks in light of news this week that the Fort Hood shooter requested that he become a citizen of the militant group Islamic State in a letter from death row.
"It's a terrorist attack; the guy says he's a terrorist; what are we missing?" Griffin said.
Metro on 09/05/2014