NO AMNESTY FOR MURDERING AMERICANS,
TANNER LEGISLATION DECLARES

Says reported talk of amnesty is 'unconscionable'

WASHINGTON – Congress should tell the President it opposes amnesty for Iraqi insurgents who have killed American service members, Congressman John Tanner said today.

Related News

U.S. Should Forcefully Oppose Iraqi Plan of Amnesty (June 20)

Republican Resolution Praises Iraqi Govt as It Considers Amnesty (June 16)

Watch Floor speech (June 15)

Tanner co-sponsors legislation introduced today to oppose what he calls an “unconscionable” idea of amnesty for killers. News reports indicate the newly formed Iraqi government is considering an amnesty policy.

“We cannot allow a government we have helped establish to pardon the murder of our men and women,” Tanner said.

The resolution reads, in part:

“Congress declares that it is the policy of the United States that the United States opposes any effort by the Government of Iraq to grant amnesty to any person known to have attacked, kidnapped, wounded, or killed members of the Armed Forces of the United States or citizens of the United States.

“It is the sense of Congress that, immediately upon the enactment of this resolution, the President should notify the government of Iraq that the Government of the United States strongly opposes the granting of amnesty to any person who has attacked, kidnapped, wounded, or killed members of the Armed Forces of the United States or citizens of the United States.”

Rep. Tanner a leader in fight against amnesty plan

In a June 20 letter, Tanner asked Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, to stop any amnesty proposal for those who killed Americans.

“The service of our American military personnel has been exemplary, and I am proud to represent so many of those soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen,” Congressman Tanner wrote in his letter to Ambassador Khalilzad. “I simply ask that you wield your considerable influence to guarantee they will not meet additional insurgent violence as a result of any proposal by the Iraqi government to forgive the murder of U.S. troops.”

Tanner also addressed the issue in remarks to the House of Representatives.

“If this government in Iraq is going to grant amnesty to people who kill Americans because they feel it is their patriotic duty and they are defending their homeland, then we have got to reassess where we are with these people,” Tanner said June 15 on the House floor. “I do not think the American people will support a government that grants amnesty to people who kill American soldiers.”

Tanner represents Tennessee’s 8^th Congressional district, which includes 20 National Guard armories, Naval Support Activity Mid-South in Millington and portions of Fort Campbell, home to the United States Army’s 101^st Airborne Division. He spent four years in the U.S. Navy and retired as Colonel from the Tennessee Army National Guard after 26 years of service.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714