WASHINGTON — An Arkansas Army soldier shot to death in 2009 outside a recruiting center in Little Rock would receive a Purple Heart under legislation introduced this week in the U.S. Senate.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., introduced a bill Tuesday that would remove barriers in awarding a Purple Heart to military victims of terrorist acts on U.S. soil, including the 2009 attacks on a military recruiting center in Little Rock and at Fort Hood in Texas.
Lieberman, who chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, pledged last December to insure that Army Pvt. “Andy” Long would be so honored after listening to testimony from his father, Daris Long of Conway, Ark.
Lieberman sought to include the Purple Heart provision in the final version of the 2012 defense authorization bill but deferred action after the White House and Department of Defense raised concerns.
“This bill provides a long-overdue update to the eligibility criteria for the Purple Heart that acknowledges the threat of domestic terrorism,” Lieberman said.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Sens. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., John Boozman, R-Ark., Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are co-sponsoring the bill.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, introduced the same bill in the House last month. Reps. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, and Tim Griffin, R-Little Rock, are among the co-sponsors.
Pryor said Wednesday that he had been working with Lieberman for months on the bicameral and bipartisan effort to see that Long, who was killed, and Pvt. Quinton Ezeaqwula of Jacksonville, who was injured, in the Little Rock attack are properly honored.
“I think this is a good thing to do – the right thing to do,” Pryor said.
Boozman said that long and Ezeagwula were targeted for their “service, dedication and devotion to our country” and deserve the same recognitions and honors bestowed on troops killed or injured in the global war on terror.
“This is a commonsense approach to providing them with the rightful recognition they deserve,” Boozman said.
Long’s killer, Abdulhakim Muhammad, is serving a life sentence without the possibility for parole after pleading guilty in July to shooting Long and Ezeagwula outside a west Little Rock military recruiting center on June 1, 2009.
Muhammad, a convert to Islam and Memphis, Tenn., native also named Carlos Bledsoe, was convicted under state laws. The U.S. Attorney has not pursued federal charges — something that the Long family would still favor.
Jim Stuteville, a senior Army advisor who appeared at last year’s hearing, said that the incident in Little Rock was not deemed an international terrorist attack and so Long and Ezeaqwula could not receive a Purple Heart.
Service members are currently eligible for a Purple Heart if they are injured in a combat zone or are a victim of an international terror attack.
The bill removes the distinction between international terrorism and domestic terrorism and also requires the Department of Defense to assess each case under the new parameters outlined in the legislation.
Lieberman said he hoped the Pentagon would expeditiously review the Little Rock and Fort Hood cases.
Thirteen people were killed and 32 wounded on Nov. 5, 2009 at Fort Hood. U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan is awaiting trail for the attack.