WASHINGTON D.C. – Requesting a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) this week joined the growing chorus of questions surrounding the Pentagon’s report regarding the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman, an Army Ranger serving in Afghanistan.
Tillman was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004 after making national headlines when he declined a multi-million dollar pro football contract in favor of serving his country in the Army.
“The injustices that the Tillman family have endured over the course of a highly flawed and possibly dishonest series of Pentagon investigations into the friendly-fire death of Pat Tillman indicate that there are serious flaws in our military command’s notification and investigation apparatus,” said Honda, who represents San Jose where Tillman grew up.
“While the [Mar. 26] reports are the most in-depth to date, they leave many crucial questions unanswered, questions that our service members and their families deserve to have answered,” he said.
Honda’s stance on Tillman brings the congressman onto the national stage. With a Democratic majority ruling Congress, Honda is flexing greater influence by leading his party’s caucus and serving on the powerful Appropriations Committee.
In 2005, Honda was elected Democratic National Committee vice chair by consolidating support from Latino and African American contenders. Today, the Spanish-speaking Honda also chairs the Congressional Ethiopian Caucus, demonstrating that he’s not relegated to just APA issues.
“Mike is demonstrating that he is truly an Asian American,” noted U.C. Berkeley professor and acclaimed author Ronald Takaki. “He of course is concerned about Asians in this country, but as an American he is equally concerned at getting to the bottom this Tillman tragedy.”