[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 97 (Thursday, June 27, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7170-S7171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            LEONARD PELTIER

  Mr. INOUYE. Madam President, I rise today in recognition of events 
which are taking place in the Capitol today concerning the cause of a 
native American, Mr. Leonard Peltier.
  For over 20 years, Mr. Peltier has been imprisoned for a crime that 
the Government now appears to be admitting Mr. Peltier may not have 
committed.
  I first became interested in this case when I viewed a documentary on 
one of the network television news programs in which, much to my 
surprise, the prosecuting attorney evinced some pride in the fact that 
at trial, the defense did not request and the prosecution did not 
produce certain exculpatory ballistics evidence which may have well 
effected a different outcome in the jury's verdict.
  Although it has been many years since I served as a prosecutor, at 
that time, a defendant was entitled to the production of all of the 
evidence that might be used against him by the prosecution, and to my 
knowledge the law has not changed in that regard.
  Thereafter, I learned that Mr. Peltier had been extradited from 
Canada on the basis of affadavits of eyewitnesses who later admitted 
that their testimony was not truthful. Although the Government 
apparently knew of the false nature of these affadavits, they were 
nonetheless presented to the Government of Canada as the basis for 
extradition.
  Over the ensuing years, it has been my belief that if these facts of 
apparent misconduct on the part of the government could be disproved, 
it would serve the interest of justice to have a full review of all of 
the actions and proceedings leading up to and resulting in Mr. 
Peltier's incarceration.
  Accordingly, I called upon President Bush to initiate such a review, 
and it is my understanding that a hearing examiner of the U.S. Parole 
Commission undertook such a review.
  Thereafter, in December 1995, I am told that a hearing was held in 
which the prosecuting attorney in the Peltier case acknowledged that 
the Government could not be certain who was responsible for the murder 
of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on June 26, 
1975, and that rather than having evidence which

[[Page S7171]]

would support the theory that Mr. Peltier fired at the agents at close 
range, the most the Government could say was that Mr. Peltier may have 
been firing shots at long range in the direction from which other 
gunfire was emanating and that in so doing, he may have aided and 
abetted those who were in fact responsible for the murders.
  Thus I was surprised to learn the Parole Commission ultimately 
concluded that ``the government has not changed its position that 
circumstantial evidence presented at your trial established your 
complicity in the execution of the agents.''
  Even more surprising, given that Mr. Peltier has consistently 
maintained his innocence of the crime with which he was charged, is the 
Parole Commission's finding that ``[Mr. Peltier] has not given a 
factually specific account of your actions at the time of the offenses 
that is consistent with the jury's verdict of guilt, considering either 
theory of your participation in the crimes outlined by the government 
at trial.''
  Madam President, in the 8 years that I served as chairman of the 
Committee on Indian Affairs, the committee received literally thousands 
of letters each week from citizens of almost every country on this 
globe, calling upon the United States to examine the facts and 
circumstances surrounding Mr. Peltier's conviction and subsequent 
incarceration, and urging clemency.
  International attention continues to be focused on what is seen by 
many as a matter of human rights.
  Madam President, it is my hope that one day soon, a nation which 
prides itself on being an open society will find it appropriate to 
reexamine Mr. Peltier's case in all of its aspects. If there is nothing 
to hide, as honorable men and women, we can do no less.
  If we find that we have been holding the wrong man accountable for 
these heinous crimes, let us renew our efforts to find the real 
culprits, and let an innocent man live out the remaining years of his 
life as a free man.

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