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April 28, 2005 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS, Vol. 151, Pt. 6 8385 Valuable Player. Today I’d like to salute that No, Sgt. Kevin Benderman is a hero be- Both sides maintain they kept their cool achievement and speak a little about his road cause when all around him are pressing for- during the hearing, saying the other side lost to that success. ward to prosecute a violent war against the theirs, according to written recommenda- Deion’s career began in Albany, Georgia tions and rebuttals released to the Savannah people of Iraq, Kevin Benderman had the Morning News. where he excelled in track, football and en- courage to stand up and assert his heartfelt One thing is clear: a hearing that was, ac- joyed soccer in high school. After graduating opposition to war. cording to Army regulations, supposed to be he made the long drive to Ellisville, Mississippi Sgt. Benderman’s opposition is not the theo- a ‘‘non-adversarial’’ proceeding was anything where he competed and earned a spot on the retical if sincere opposition of a student peace but that. Jones County Junior College football team. activist. Kevin Benderman has seen things Capt. Victor Aqueche, the Fort Stewart- There he grabbed 37 passes for 639 yards that none of God’s children should have to en- appointed investigating officer, wrote in a and five touchdowns as a freshman on the dure. He was present when his superior or- recommendation memo following the hear- Bobcat squad. The following year he took 69 ing that Benderman was ‘‘argumentative’’ at dered his unit to open fire on small children times, and his demeanor ‘‘untactful’’ at oth- receptions for 1,012 yards and nine touch- who were throwing rocks at the soldiers of his ers. downs, earning second-team All-American unit. He chased the hungry dogs from an open In his rebuttal, Maj. S. Scot Sikes, honors and leading JCJC to a 12–0 mark and mass grave filled with the bodies of young Benderman’s military lawyer, said Aqueche a victory at the Golden Isles Bowl to bring children, old men and women. Kevin saw the at times became ‘‘agitated, snide and hos- home the junior college national champion- burned child, crying in pain, while all around tile’’ toward Benderman. ship. her ignored her injuries. Sikes argued that Aqueche’s ‘‘incestuous The University of Louisville recruited Deion As he reflected on what he had experi- appointment’’ as investigating officer set the tone for this type of ill-willed ping-pong. who hauled in 143 passes for 2,204 yards and enced, he chose to not re-enlist, to not partici- ‘‘(Aqueche) is assigned to the same bat- 18 touchdowns in his two years there. He be- pate in a war and an institution that he could talion command,’’ and consequently ‘‘was came only the second player in school history no longer square with his evolving yet sin- placed in the position of making a critical to record multiple 1,000 yard seasons and is cerely held beliefs. But stretched by an im- determination regarding a soldier assigned listed fourth and sixth respectively in the moral war, based on lies, beyond the limits of to one of his colleague captain’s own units,’’ school records for career touchdown catches the resources afforded them, our military Sikes wrote. and receptions with the Cardinals—and that in adopted a ‘‘stop loss order’’ policy to arbitrarily In an interview Monday, Sikes said, ‘‘That bothered me. You know they’re buds.’’ just two years. breech the contracts our nation made with Aqueche did not respond to requests for The New England Patriots used their Num- those who serve in its military services. comment. ber 65 pick in the 2002 Draft to bring in Deion So Kevin did what was necessary. He ap- Sikes also said Monday he knew the com- to what many are now describing as a dy- plied for Conscientious Objector status. His of- mand looked at the timing of Benderman’s nasty—three Super Bowl Victories in four ficers up the chain of command refused their request—just before he was scheduled to de- years, two with Deion on the team. duty to accept his application. His commander ploy—with suspicion. ‘‘But it should have Deion’s first Super Bowl ring came without called him a coward. His unit chaplain refused not been so hostilely received.’’ That goes against the ‘‘non-adversarial’’ the MVP award; his colleague and football leg- to meet with him, writing by email that he was end Tom Brady won it that year. But while tone and tenor the application review is sup- ‘‘ashamed’’ of Kevin. He was charged with posed to have, he said. many of us fans thought he should be consid- ‘‘Desertion with Intent to Avoid Hazardous Sikes asked for a new hearing, a request he ered, we didn’t have to wait long to be satis- Duty’’ and ‘‘Missing Movement by Design’’. His says was denied. He now has until Friday to fied. The following year, despite an injury in preliminary hearings methodically violated file another rebuttal to Aqueche’s response his second game which kept him on the side- every precept of substantive due process. He to the defense’s initial rebuttal. lines for the next seven matches, Deion fin- now faces a Court Martial on May 11 and the In early February, Sikes and Aqueche squared off almost immediately over the ished the season with 35 receptions for 454 possibility of seven years in the stockade. yards and four touchdowns. hearing’s timing. It was scheduled the day Every member of our Armed Forces raises after an Article 32 hearing to determine Deion had trained and focused and coming their hands, as do we, and take an oath, as whether Benderman would face a general into the end of the season from an injury, he do we, to ‘‘defend the Constitution of the court-martial on charges he deserted and was still ready for the premier football event in United States’’. That Constitution protects the missed the January movement of his troops the world. Finishing the night with an NFL ‘‘Right of Conscience’’, including the right to as they deployed to Iraq. record-tying 11 receptions for 133 yards in the conscientiously object to war as an instrument Sikes wanted a delay of a ‘‘mere’’ week. Super Bowl, he became just the fourth re- of public policy. But given the climate we face ‘‘Sgt. Benderman is very concerned that he ceiver in NFL history to receive the MVP right now, asserting such a right takes real cannot be adequately prepared for a hear- award and is already being listed with greats ing,’’ Sikes wrote in a Feb. 3 e-mail attached courage. And it is the exercise of that courage to the rebuttal. ‘‘Preparations for the Arti- like Jerry Rice and Dan Ross. which makes Sgt. Benderman a hero in my cle 32 cannot be overstated; it’s very impor- Mr. Speaker, Deion’s team-first attitude and book. tant.’’ strong work ethic has paid off and we in Mis- It is a crime and a shame that while we are Aqueche shot down the request with the sissippi are proud of him and salute his con- so busy working to expand freedom to other following e-mail: ‘‘Sgt. Benderman made a tinuing achievements. I know we will continue nations, we can’t slow down to protect our conscious decision to take 14 days of leave to see him excel in the future and all of us precious freedoms among ourselves. prior to his Article 32 . A delay as such could be considered ‘insincerity’ on the part from Jones County, Mississippi will remember [From the Savannah Morning News, March of Sgt. Benderman.’’ him for his years with us and salute his deter- 28, 2005] The investigation officer also said, ‘‘There mination, skill and triumphs. DEFENSE LAWYER, INVESTIGATOR SQUARE OFF is no preparation needed on Sgt. f OVER BENDERMAN’S CONSCIENTIOUS OBJEC- Benderman’s behalf in order to answer ques- TOR APPLICATION tions regarding this application.’’ SERGEANT KEVIN BENDERMAN (By John Carrington) Yet Aqueche, in his March 23 recommenda- Filings and e-mails show that a ‘non-adver- tion memo, wrote, ‘‘I firmly believe Sgt. HON. CYNTHIA McKINNEY sarial’ hearing over Sgt. Kevin Benderman’s Benderman was not prepared for the in-depth OF GEORGIA conscientious objector status was anything questions presented during the CO hearing.’’ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES but cordial. Aqueche’s memo also said that, during the Sgt. Kevin Benderman poses with his wife hearing, Benderman would consult with Thursday, April 28, 2005 Monica following Article 32 proceedings, a Sikes and then either refuse to answer ques- Ms. MCKINNEY. Mr. Speaker, I speak with military court process similar to a prelimi- tions—and question their relevancy to the you today about one of America’s heroes, Sgt. nary hearing. Benderman, who has applied application—or offer ‘‘vague’’ or delayed an- Kevin Benderman. Sgt. Benderman is not a for conscientious objector status, has been swers. Sikes pointed out that, as Benderman’s hero because he served a tour of duty in the charged with desertion for not deploying to Iraq with his unit. lawyer for both the court-martial charges Occupation of Iraq, though he did. He is not The defense lawyer and the investigating and the conscientious objector application, a hero because of the medals he was award- officer for Sgt. Kevin Benderman’s conscien- he had to keep the sergeant from saying any- ed, nor his ten years of honorable service in tious objector application apparently at- thing that could create more legal problems the U.S.

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