PJ Media

Wolf called the dragged-out prosecution of Hasan “ridiculous.”

“This is being dictated by the attorney general and the White House,” he said.

Carter said he understands why the defense is trying to keep Hasan from getting to trial as long as possible — “that’s their job; they delay as long as they can” — but said “it’s time to get this thing over with.”

Along with Wolf, co-sponsors to Carter’s bill are Texas GOP Reps. Bill Flores and Michael Burgess.

Similar legislation introduced by the Fort Hood representative days after the attack reaped 97 co-sponsors. Wolf said “the media let this thing go,” and there’s barely any heat on the administration as a result.

“Just what my mom would always say — just do the right thing — and they won’t do the right thing unless the media holds them accountable,” he said.

Last May, Carter lauded the inclusion of language from a bill by Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) granting Purple Hearts to Fort Hood victims in the National Defense Authorization Act. In dozens of concerns cited in the Office of Management and Budget’s veto threat was this language, which also included Purple Heart eligibility for the 2009 Little Rock military recruiting office shooting.

“The Administration objects to section 552, which would grant Purple Hearts to the victims of the shooting incidents in Fort Hood, Texas, and Little Rock, Arkansas,” the OMB wrote. “The criminal acts that occurred in Little Rock were tried by the State of Arkansas as violations of the State criminal code rather than as acts of terrorism; as a result, this provision could create appellate issues.”

Carter knows Obama will likely be poised with his veto pen if this long-overdue bill even gets to the Senate floor.

“I wouldn’t put anything past the president,” he said. “The right thing to do is award that medal to the people who were wounded in that particular skirmish.”

The Texan has another bill this Congress that would amend Title X of the U.S. Code “to extend whistleblower protections to a member of the Armed Forces who alerts Department of Defense investigation or law enforcement organizations, a person or organization in the member’s chain of command, and certain other persons or entities about the potentially dangerous ideologically based threats or actions of another member against United States interests or security.”

Carter said he wants members of the military to feel they can report extremism regardless of rank, without fear of a black mark on their records.

Hundreds have reported witnessing bizarre behavior or hearing questionable Islamist statements from Hasan, yet congressional probes since the Fort Hood shooting determined that political correctness was a factor that stood in the way of addressing the threat.

Hasan completed his psychiatric residency at Walter Reed, where he told Army physicians in a senior-year presentation “it’s getting harder and harder for Muslims in the service to morally justify being in a military that seems constantly engaged against fellow Muslims.”

In the slideshow presentation, called “The Koranic World View As It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military,” he warned of “adverse events” if Muslim soldiers didn’t have the option of being released as conscientious objectors.

“If we’d have known that, maybe we wouldn’t have spent all that money on his medical training,” Carter said.