Senator Collins Questions Secretary of the Army on Investigations into Lewiston Shooting

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Washington, D.C. – At an Appropriations hearing to review the Fiscal Year 2025 budget request for the U.S. Army, U.S. Senator Susan Collins questioned Secretary Christine Wormuth about the Army’s investigations into the horrific mass shooting that occurred in Lewiston, Maine on October 25, 2023.  The killer, Robert Card, was a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army Reserve.

During her questions, Senator Collins acknowledged the ongoing review by the Army Reserve, as well as the investigation by the Army Inspector General (IG) that she called for in November 2023 to more fully understand what happened and what could have been done differently to prevent this mass shooting at the local, state, and federal levels. 

After the conclusion of the Army IG and Army Reserve’s investigations, and with the benefit of their findings, Senator Collins intends to draft legislation that will require U.S. military services to report to the appropriate authorities when a service member poses a threat to him or herself, or to others, while protecting the Second Amendment rights of our service members.

In response to her questions, Secretary Wormuth committed to work with her on such legislation.  Earlier this month, Senator Collins received a similar commitment from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Senator Collins is the Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Defense.

Below is the full transcript of their exchange.

Senator Collins said:

Secretary Wormuth, we discussed just recently in my office the horrific mass shooting that occurred last October 25th in the State of Maine, the worst mass shooting in our state's history, in which 18 individuals died and another 13 were injured.  The killer, Robert Card, was a Sergeant First Class in the U.S. Army Reserve.  The Governor of Maine has established an independent commission that has already issued an interim report.  And that report includes several very troubling findings about missed opportunities to prevent this tragedy.

So, I want to ensure that we're taking every action necessary to try to lessen or prevent the chances of such a tragedy ever happening again. 

Secretary Austin has committed to working with me in drafting legislation that would require our military services to report to the appropriate authorities when a service member poses a threat to him or herself, or to others, while protecting the Second Amendment rights of our service members.

But to draft the most effective legislation, I very much need the results of the review that the Army Reserve has undertaken, as well as the investigation that I requested from the Inspector General…

Could you please update me on when we can expect those two critical reports?

Sec. Christine Wormuth replied:

Certainly.  And Senator, first of all, I would say, you know, my heart goes out to all of the families in Maine that lost people and that were affected by the terrible shooting.  It was truly tragic.

You will be able to expect, I think, the Army Reserve investigation in a couple more weeks.  It has been, as we talked about, very comprehensive.  There are over, I think, 3,000 pages of interviews with witnesses and documents that they've collected, which is partly why it's taken so long, but it should be done in a couple more weeks.  And then, I think the separate review being done by our Army Inspector General will follow shortly after that.

Sen. Collins continued:

Thank you. I look forward to working with you on the legislation, and would love to have your commitment for that as well.

Sec. Christine Wormuth responded:

We look forward to working with you on your legislation.

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