[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 485 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 485

  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
declassification of information related to missing and unaccounted-for 
                      members of the Armed Forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 7, 2011

Mr. Jones (for himself, Mr. Poe of Texas, and Mr. Whitfield) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 
                                Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
  Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the 
declassification of information related to missing and unaccounted-for 
                      members of the Armed Forces.

Whereas accounting for members of the Armed Forces still missing and otherwise 
        unaccounted for from the past wars of the United States continues to be 
        of great concern to the families of the members, veterans, Congress, and 
        the American people;
Whereas for decades, new laws, executive orders by successive Presidents, and 
        intense official efforts by the Federal Government have failed to ensure 
        the declassification of all relevant information that should be readily 
        available to the families of members who are missing or unaccounted for 
        and both private and public researchers for analysis, for example, all 
        written communication, including attached or referenced documents, 
        between James Kelleher, Director of Special Operations of the Office of 
        the Secretary of Defense, and Major Walter R. Smith, Executive, 
        Subsidiary Plans Division of the Air Force, regarding missing personnel 
        of the United States during the Korean War, including unclassified files 
        forwarded to the Department of Defense on August 3, 1956, and September 
        27, 1956;
Whereas obstacles continue to be encountered by some directly affected family 
        members and private researchers who are seeking relevant archival 
        records of the United States on incidents, processes, procedures, and 
        policies that pertain or may pertain to missing and unaccounted-for 
        individuals and their ultimate fates;
Whereas countless hearings and investigations by the House of Representatives 
        and the Senate have been held since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 
        to delve into unresolved questions related to POW/MIA matters, including 
        claims of conspiracy and cover-up within the Federal Government that 
        were found to be without merit;
Whereas decades after the end of the Vietnam War, Korean War, and the Cold War, 
        there are still many unanswered questions about the ultimate fates of 
        some of these unreturned veterans, especially those who were known at 
        one time to be captured or in immediate proximity to capture in North 
        Korea and Southeast Asia;
Whereas in March 2009, the Government of Vietnam proposed increasing the pace 
        and scope of field operations, a proposal welcomed by POW/MIA families 
        and veterans, but not yet adequately responded to by the United States, 
        despite the fact that remains of personnel of the United States from the 
        Vietnam War are disappearing because of the passage of time in acidic 
        soil inherent in the region, encroaching development, and incident sites 
        becoming more difficult to locate because of the death of potential eye-
        witnesses; and
Whereas thousands of members of the Armed Forces who served during World War II 
        are considered to be buried at sea and unrecoverable because of the 
        sinking of American ships, but the remains of other thousands of members 
        lost in World War II and the Korean War that are considered possibly 
        recoverable have yet to be recovered, identified, and returned to their 
        families and to the United States for burial with the honors earned in 
        combat: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the Secretary of Defense should take immediate actions 
        to ensure that all classified information (except for current, 
        active intelligence information and sources and methods of 
        collection) that pertains or may pertain to any member of the 
        Armed Forces who is missing and unaccounted for from World War 
        II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, or the Cold War, 
        regardless of whether such information was originated by the 
        Federal Government, a foreign source, or other official or 
        private source, that came into the possession of the Department 
        of Defense be declassified and provided to the primary-next-of-
        kin or other designated next-of-kin and, in accordance with 
        relevant privacy laws, made available to the National Archives 
        and Records Administration for review by public and private 
        researchers;
            (2) sufficient funding and personnel should be approved and 
        provided for the POW/MIA accounting community (as defined by 
        section 1509(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code) to 
        support--
                    (A) expanding and increasing the declassification 
                effort described in paragraph (1);
                    (B) responding fully to Vietnam's proposal to 
                increase the pace and scope of field operations;
                    (C) developing the capacity to conduct worldwide 
                remains recovery and identification of at least 200 
                unaccounted-for members by fiscal year 2015, as 
                required by section 541(d)(2) of the National Defense 
                Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (10 U.S.C. 1509 
                note);
                    (D) resuming field recovery operations in North 
                Korea, including notification to Congress if additional 
                funding is needed to implement agreements reached on 
                October 20, 2011, between the United States and North 
                Korea; and
                    (E) resuming field operations in Burma if such 
                recovery operations again become possible; and
            (3) the funding described in paragraph (2) should be 
        sufficient to allow for the expansion of accounting efforts for 
        all members of the Armed Forces missing and unaccounted for 
        from all wars without--
                    (A) degrading any efforts related to the most 
                recent wars and conflicts; and
                    (B) reducing efforts to account for members in 
                cases where acidic soil is destroying remains, 
                development is encroaching, and eyewitnesses are dying.
                                 <all>