Justice for Fort Hood Heroes Act Introduced

Aug. 2, 2013— -- As the long delayed trial of alleged Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, gets under way, congressional supporters of Hasan's victims are introducing new legislation to get them the benefits they say the Army has denied them.

The Justice for Fort Hood Heroes Act, introduced Friday, would ensure that the victims of the Fort Hood attack receive the same benefits as Purple Heart recipients, including combat-related special compensation.

The attack left 13 dead and more than 30 injured.

Many of the Fort Hood victims say they've been denied Purple Hearts, as well as some financial and medical benefits due to the military's refusal to categorize the massacre as an act of terrorism, instead discussing it as "workplace violence."

READ: Fort Hood Hero Says President Obama 'Betrayed' Her, Other Victims

The designation came despite evidence showing that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack. In a letter in late May, a top Army attorney said that "the available evidence in this case does not, at this time, support a finding that the shooting at Fort Hood was an act of international terrorism."

READ: Hasan Asked Awlaki If It Was Okay to Kill American Soldiers

Meanwhile, in a new development, Hasan has released seven pages of handwritten and typed documents in which he appears to renounce his U.S. citizenship, abandons his military oath and further discusses his relationship with Awlaki.

According to Fox News, the documents were delivered to them this week by Hasan's attorney for civil matters, John Galligan.

In one, posted by Fox News, Hasan writes, "I, Nidal Malik Hasan, am compelled to renounce any oaths of allegiances that require me to support/defend [any] man made constitution (like the constitution of the United States) over the commandments mandated in Islam ... I therefore formally renounce my oath of office ... this includes my oath of U.S. citizenship."

Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., a sponsor for the new legislation, told ABC News the recently released letters were just further evidence that the military is incorrect in their designation of the Fort Hood attack.