[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 65 (Friday, April 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 STATEMENT FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION ON AWARD OF THE PURPLE 
                                 HEART

                                 ______


                             HON. BOB STUMP

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 6, 1995
  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to provide 
for the award of the Purple Heart to certain former prisoners of war. 
My distinguished colleagues, Sonny Montgomery, Dan Burton, Jim 
Traficant,  and Mike Bilirakis join me in introducing this bill. It 
provides for award of the Purple Heart to persons held as prisoners of 
war before April 25, 1962, on the same basis as persons held as 
prisoners of war after that date.
  Now, only former prisoners of war from the Vietnam and Persian Gulf 
wars are eligible to receive the Purple Heart for injuries received at 
the hands of the enemy while in captivity. This is because on April 25, 
1962, President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 11016 to ensure 
that U.S. prisoners of war would be eligible to receive the Purple 
Heart for injuries received as prisoners of war, or if ill-treatment 
resulted in death.
  Unfortunately, the Executive order has not been applied 
retroactively. Among other reasons, the Department of Defense felt that 
a retroactive award of the Purple Heart would contradict the decisions 
made by past military leaders who thought that injuries incurred while 
a prisoner of war during those actions were the result of war crimes, 
and not the result of legal acts of war. While I respect the prevailing 
reasons for these judgments at the time they were made, I believe it is 
of overriding importance to bestow this much-deserved recognition 
retroactively upon those individuals who suffered in so many ways as a 
result of their willingness to defend all that we hold sacred.
  Differentiating among American prisoners of war on the basis of a 
date is a grave injustice to those men and women prisoners of war from 
World War I, World War II, and Korea. The inhumane treatment they often 
endured at the hands of the enemy ranged from physical and 
psychological torture to starvation and even execution.
  Both the Bush and Clinton administrations have been urged on a 
bipartisan basis to rectify this injustice by executive action and 
nothing has been done. Now, on a bipartisan basis, we are introducing 
this legislation. The award of the Purple Heart to these former 
prisoners of war would serve as a reminder to Americans of all ages of 
the sacrifices made by its military men and women in service to their 
country.


                          ____________________