[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 136 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H11470-H11476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RESTORATION OF CERTAIN POW/MIA AUTHORITIES APPLICABLE TO THE DEPARTMENT 
                               OF DEFENSE

  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill, H.R. 4000, to amend title 10, United States Code, to restore the 
provisions of chapter 76 of that title (relating to missing persons) as 
in effect before the amendments made by the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4000

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. RESTORATION OF MISSING PERSONS AUTHORITIES 
                   APPLICABLE TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AS IN 
                   EFFECT BEFORE ENACTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENSE 
                   AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997.

       (a) Applicability to Department of Defense Civilian 
     Employees and Contractor Employees.--(1) Section 1501 of 
     title 10, United States Code, is amended--
       (A) by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in lieu 
     thereof the following:
       ``(c) Covered Persons.--Section 1502 of this title applies 
     in the case of the following persons:
       ``(1) Any member of the armed forces on active duty who 
     becomes involuntarily absent as a result of a hostile action, 
     or under circumstances

[[Page H11471]]

     suggesting that the involuntary absence is a result of a 
     hostile action, and whose status is undetermined or who is 
     unaccounted for.
       ``(2) Any civilian employee of the Department of Defense, 
     and any employee of a contractor of the Department of 
     Defense, who serves with or accompanies the armed forces in 
     the field under orders who becomes involuntarily absent as a 
     result of a hostile action, or under circumstances suggesting 
     that the involuntary absence is a result of a hostile action, 
     and whose status is undetermined or who is unaccounted 
     for.''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(f) Secretary Concerned.--In this chapter, the term 
     `Secretary concerned' includes, in the case of a civilian 
     employee of the Department of Defense or contractor of the 
     Department of Defense, the Secretary of the military 
     department or head of the element of the Department of 
     Defense employing the employee or contracting with the 
     contractor, as the case may be.''.
       (2) Section 1503(c) of such title is amended--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking out ``one military 
     officer'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``one individual 
     described in paragraph (2)'';
       (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs 
     (3) and (4), respectively; and
       (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
     paragraph (2):
       ``(2) An individual referred to in paragraph (1) is the 
     following:
       ``(A) A military officer, in the case of an inquiry with 
     respect to a member of the armed forces.
       ``(B) A civilian, in the case of an inquiry with respect to 
     a civilian employee of the Department of Defense or of a 
     contractor of the Department of Defense.''.
       (3) Section 1504(d) of such title is amended--
       (A) in paragraph (1), by striking out ``who are'' and all 
     that follows in that paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``as follows:
       ``(A) In the case of a board that will inquire into the 
     whereabouts and status of one or more members of the armed 
     forces (and no civilians described in subparagraph (B)), the 
     board shall be composed of officers having the grade of major 
     or lieutenant commander or above.
       ``(B) In the case of a board that will inquire into the 
     whereabouts and status of one or more civilian employees of 
     the Department of Defense or contractors of the Department of 
     Defense (and no members of the armed forces), the board shall 
     be composed of--
       ``(i) not less than three employees of the Department of 
     Defense whose rate of annual pay is equal to or greater than 
     the rate of annual pay payable for grade GS-13 of the General 
     Schedule under section 5332 of title 5; and
       ``(ii) such members of the armed forces as the Secretary 
     considers advisable.
       ``(C) In the case of a board that will inquire into the 
     whereabouts and status of both one or more members of the 
     armed forces and one or more civilians described in 
     subparagraph (B)--
       ``(i) the board shall include at least one officer 
     described in subparagraph (A) and at least one employee of 
     the Department of Defense described in subparagraph (B)(i); 
     and
       ``(ii) the ratio of such officers to such employees on the 
     board shall be roughly proportional to the ratio of the 
     number of members of the armed forces who are subjects of the 
     board's inquiry to the number of civilians who are subjects 
     of the board's inquiry.''; and
       (B) in paragraph (4), by striking out ``section 
     1503(c)(3)'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 
     1503(c)(4)''.
       (4) Paragraph (1) of section 1513 of such title is amended 
     to read as follows:
       ``(1) The term `missing person' means--
       ``(A) a member of the armed forces on active duty who is in 
     a missing status; or
       ``(B) a civilian employee of the Department of Defense or 
     an employee of a contractor of the Department of Defense who 
     serves with or accompanies the armed forces in the field 
     under orders and who is in a missing status.''.
       (b) Report on Preliminary Assessment of Status.--(1) 
     Section 1502 of such title is amended--
       (A) in subsection (a)(2)--
       (i) by striking out ``10 days'' and inserting in lieu 
     thereof ``48 hours''; and
       (ii) by striking out ``Secretary concerned'' and inserting 
     in lieu thereof ``theater component commander with 
     jurisdiction over the missing person'';
       (B) in subsection (a), as amended by subparagraph (A)--
       (i) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively;
       (ii) by inserting ``(1)'' after ``Commander.--''; and
       (iii) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(2) However, if the commander determines that operational 
     conditions resulting from hostile action or combat constitute 
     an emergency that prevents timely reporting under paragraph 
     (1)(B), the initial report should be made as soon as 
     possible, but in no case later than ten days after the date 
     on which the commander receives such information under 
     paragraph (1).'';
       (C) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c);
       (D) by inserting after subsection (a), as amended by 
     subparagraphs (A) and (B), the following new subsection (b):
       ``(b) Transmission Through Theater Component Commander.--
     Upon reviewing a report under subsection (a) recommending 
     that a person be placed in a missing status, the theater 
     component commander shall ensure that all necessary actions 
     are being taken, and all appropriate assets are being 
     used, to resolve the status of the missing person. Not 
     later than 14 days after receiving the report, the theater 
     component commander shall forward the report to the 
     Secretary of Defense or the Secretary concerned in 
     accordance with procedures prescribed under section 
     1501(b) of this title. The theater component commander 
     shall include with such report a certification that all 
     necessary actions are being taken, and all appropriate 
     assets are being used, to resolve the status of the 
     missing person.''; and
       (E) in subsection (c), as redesignated by subparagraph (C), 
     by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``The 
     theater component commander through whom the report with 
     respect to the missing person is transmitted under subsection 
     (b) shall ensure that all pertinent information relating to 
     the whereabouts and status of the missing person that results 
     from the preliminary assessment or from actions taken to 
     locate the person is properly safeguarded to avoid loss, 
     damage, or modification.''.
       (2) Section 1503(a) of such title is amended by striking 
     out ``section 1502(a)'' and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``section 1502(b)''.
       (3) Section 1504 of such title is amended by striking out 
     ``section 1502(a)(2)'' in subsections (a), (b), and (e)(1) 
     and inserting in lieu thereof ``section 1502(a)''.
       (4) Section 1513 of such title is amended by adding at the 
     end the following new paragraph:
       ``(8) The term `theater component commander' means, with 
     respect to any of the combatant commands, an officer of any 
     of the armed forces who (A) is commander of all forces of 
     that armed force assigned to that combatant command, and (B) 
     is directly subordinate to the commander of the combatant 
     command.''.
       (c) Frequency of Subsequent Reviews.--Subsection (b) of 
     section 1505 of such title is amended to read as follows:
       ``(b) Frequency of Subsequent Reviews.--(1) In the case of 
     a missing person who was last known to be alive or who was 
     last suspected of being alive, the Secretary shall appoint a 
     board to conduct an inquiry with respect to a person under 
     this subsection--
       ``(A) on or about three years after the date of the initial 
     report of the disappearance of the person under section 
     1502(a) of this title; and
       ``(B) not later than every three years thereafter.
       ``(2) In addition to appointment of boards under paragraph 
     (1), the Secretary shall appoint a board to conduct an 
     inquiry with respect to a missing person under this 
     subsection upon receipt of information that could result in a 
     change of status of the missing person. When the Secretary 
     appoints a board under this paragraph, the time for 
     subsequent appointments of a board under paragraph (1)(B) 
     shall be determined from the date of the receipt of such 
     information.
       ``(3) The Secretary is not required to appoint a board 
     under paragraph (1) with respect to the disappearance of any 
     person--
       ``(A) more than 30 years after the initial report of the 
     disappearance of the missing person required by section 
     1502(a) of this title; or
       ``(B) if, before the end of such 30-year period, the 
     missing person is accounted for.''.
       (d) Penalties for Wrongful Withholding of Information.--
     Section 1506 of such title is amended--
       (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f); and
       (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
     subsection (e):
       ``(e) Wrongful Withholding.--Except as provided in 
     subsections (a) through (d), any person who knowingly and 
     willfully withholds from the personnel file of a missing 
     person any information relating to the disappearance or 
     whereabouts and status of a missing person shall be fined as 
     provided in title 18 or imprisoned not more than one year, or 
     both.''.
       (e) Information To Accompany Recommendation of Status of 
     Death.--Section 1507(b) of such title is amended adding at 
     the end the following new paragraphs:
       ``(3) A description of the location of the body, if 
     recovered.
       ``(4) If the body has been recovered and is not 
     identifiable through visual means, a certification by a 
     practitioner of an appropriate forensic science that the body 
     recovered is that of the missing person.''.
       (f) Scope of Preenactment Review.--(1) Section 1509 of such 
     title is amended--
       (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
       (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new 
     subsection (c):
       ``(c) Special Rule for Persons Classified as `KIA/BNR'.--In 
     the case of a person described in subsection (b) who was 
     classified as `killed in action/body not recovered', the case 
     of that person may be reviewed under this section only if the 
     new information referred to in subsection (a) is 
     compelling.''.
       (2)(A) The heading of such section is amended by inserting 
     ``, special interest'' after ``Preenactment''.
       (B) The item relating to such section in the table of 
     sections at the beginning of chapter 76 of such title is 
     amended by inserting ``, special interest'' after 
     ``Preenactment''.
       (g) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall take effect immediately after the enactment of the 
     National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
South Carolina [Mr. Spence] and the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. 
Pickett] each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence].


                             general leave

  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from South Carolina?

[[Page H11472]]

  There was no objection.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4000, a bill to restore 
a number of important authorities to chapter 76 of title 10, United 
States Code that were originally included when it was first passed.
  I was disappointed when the original version of the Missing Persons 
Act was amended this year. I believed we had the right answer in 1995 
and I believe that H.R. 4000 will again set the record straight.
  Mr. Speaker, all Members should note that the Military Personnel 
Subcommittee conducted nine hearings on POW/MIA matters over the last 2 
years. Additionally, the full Committee on National Security was 
unanimous in its support of H.R. 4000 when it reported the bill to the 
House with a 45-to-0 vote.
  Mr. Speaker, the case in support of H.R. 4000 is overwhelming. I urge 
the House to send a message with this vote--the record must be 
corrected and H.R. 4000 must be included in the law of the land.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about dead heroes here, and 
missing men who may be alive. I would hope the Chamber would be as 
quiet as a church, and that includes our wonderful guides in the 
gallery, who are carrying on a narration. I know you are a great 
historian. Please do not do it. Let that great group listen to this.


                announcement by the speaker pro tempore

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ney). The gentleman from California [Mr. 
Dornan] will refrain from referring to individuals in the gallery. But 
the gentleman is correct, the gentleman speaking on this bill deserves 
to be heard. The subject is of a serious nature that deserves respect.
  Mr. PICKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4000 and urge its adoption.
  Under Chairman Dornan's leadership, the Subcommittee on Military 
Personnel conducted a series of hearings in the 104th Congress on U.S. 
prisoner of war and missing in action issues. The chairman is to be 
commended for his diligent work in this effort. It is important that we 
follow up immediately on all data and reports concerning the fate of 
United States Korean war and Vietnam war POW's-MIA's, and develop a 
comprehensive policy for dealing with this issue. It is clear from the 
hearings held so far that the U.S. Government has not exerted the kind 
of focused and consistent effort that could be expected to fully 
account for those men.
  The unknown extent of the reported involvement of the Soviet Union, 
China, and other nations in the exploitation, torture and 
experimentation on United States prisoners of war from Korea and 
Vietnam fully justify the additional investigative work that will be 
required. It is also becoming increasingly apparent that a full 
accounting of our prisoners and missing in action cannot be achieved 
until the United States has gained the full cooperation of these other 
nations.
  As I told witnesses who appeared before the Military Personnel 
Subcommittee earlier this month, their testimony was compelling. Having 
listened to and questioned the witnesses at each one of the POW-MIA 
hearings over the last 2 years, I am convinced that the missing persons 
section of title 10, United States Code, as enacted just 5 months ago, 
is a necessary element to achieving full accounting for U.S. POW's and 
MIA's. It is past time that the U.S. Government put this issue to rest 
by adopting and implementing an honorable and responsible program.
  Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of H.R. 
4000. This will reinstate the POW-MIA provisions deleted from Public 
Law 104-106 when the fiscal year 1997 Defense authorization bill was 
signed into law. These provisions are necessary if our Nation is to 
have a thorough and comprehensive statutory framework for effectively 
dealing with the POW-MIA issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Dornan], the chairman of the Subcommittee on Military 
Personnel of the Committee on National Security.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to immediately defer, as I 
discussed with the gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], who is one of 
the cosponsors of the original language that was worked out over two 
decades, and he and I discussed this, to a Member of this House who 
spent 7 years in Communist captivity in Hanoi.
  Only the words medieval barbarity, inquisition, or Nazi or Japanese 
warlord prison camps, can conjure up the image of what was done to this 
Member of Congress and 10 other men who stood up to the Communist 
brutality in Hanoi, and were isolated for almost 4 years from everyone 
else and from one another in a slimy little hole in downtown Hanoi that 
they, with fighter pilot bravado, called Alcatraz.
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. DORNAN. I yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, we have been uncovering all 
kinds of information in the committee of the gentleman from California 
[Mr. Dornan], as well as on the United States-Russia Commission on 
POWs/MIAs, of which I am a member, about prisoners being taken to 
Russia during World War II, the cold war, Korea, and Vietnam. We have 
yet to resolve that. I think our families are owed that.
  Members will recall last year we included in the defense 
authorization bill language which clarified and strengthened the 
policies and procedures regarding missing service personnel. It was 
praised by both military and veterans groups. As a matter of fact, it 
was also praised by the families, who were still alive, of missing 
members. They are vitally concerned and support this, as we know.
  Those who support the repeal of these provisions, some of them on the 
other side, claim it puts undue pressure on our field commanders. Do 
Members want to know, is it undue pressure to ask a commander to report 
a missing person in 48 hours? I do not think so.
  They also claim it is too burdensome to require division or theater 
commander staffs to handle search and rescue calls. Come on, is it too 
much to answer our families when they are asking about their missing 
guys? As a 29-year Air Force veteran who has fought in 2 wars, I want 
to say this thinking, besides being totally illogical, is potentially 
devastating to all American military families.
  One of the most basic standards we live by in this U.S. military is 
the promise that if while performing your duty you are found missing or 
taken prisoner, that everything possible will be done to try to find 
you or free you. This bond of trust was made stronger by the missing 
person language that was signed into law last year. If we continue to 
revoke that language now, are we not revoking our promise to our 
military to take care of our troops who fight to keep this country 
free?
  Mr. Speaker, I ask Members to please understand what I am saying. 
Before going into combat, the service member does not know if they are 
going to be fully backed up by our Government if they get into trouble. 
It is a matter of morale. We should not even be debating this issue, in 
my view. I think we should support our valiant military and support 
this bill. I thank the gentleman for bringing this to the front.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, as much as anyone, I am proud to serve with 
the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Sam Johnson.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York [Mr. Gilman], chairman of our Committee on International 
Relations.
  (Mr. GILMAN asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the chairman of the 
committee, the gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence], for bringing 
this measure to the floor. I want to commend, too, the gentleman from 
New York [Mr. Solomon], for his dedicated work to this issue, and the 
chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Dornan], for his devotion to the cause of our MIA's and POW's.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4000, the POW/MIA 
Restoration Act. Last year, this body secured a victory for U.S. 
service personnel, their

[[Page H11473]]

families, and the families of POW/MIA's by the passage of H.R. 945, the 
Missing Service Personnel Act.
  H.R. 945 received unanimous support in the House as part of the 
Department of Defense Authorization Act of 1996.
  Unable to prevent the passage of H.R. 945, the opponents of the 
legislation waited to attach a Senate amendment to the 1997 defense 
authorization conference report which essentially gutted the Missing 
Service Personnel Act.
  H.R. 4000 restores the provisions stricken from the Missing Service 
Personnel Act by the Senate amendment.
  The first provision to be restored requires that military commanders 
report and initiate searches for missing service personnel within 48 
hours, rather than 10 days as proposed by the Senate amendment. While 
current regulations require local commanders to report any individual 
missing more than 24 hours, the missing often fall through the cracks, 
especially during military operations.
  The second provision covers civilian employees of the Defense 
Department who are in the field under orders to assist our military. 
They deserve the same protections afforded our men and women in 
uniform.
  The third provision to be restored provides if a body were recovered 
and could not be identified by visual means, that a certification by a 
credible forensic authority must be made. There have been too many 
recent cases where misidentification of remains has caused undue trauma 
for families.
  Finally, H.R. 4000 restores the provision which requires criminal 
penalties for Government officials who knowingly and willfully withhold 
information related to the disappearance, whereabouts and status of a 
missing person.
  Prompt and proper notification of any new information is essential to 
the successful investigation of any POW/MIA case. This cannot be 
achieved if individual bureaucrats deliberately seek to derail the 
process.
  The opponents of the Missing Service Personnel Act have to this day 
never offered any credible reasons for their opposition to the 
legislation. Rather than create more redtape I believe these provisions 
will help streamline the bureaucracy and improve the investigation 
process.
  Moreover, the Missing Service Personnel Act has not been public law 
long enough to be adequately evaluated. To repeal provisions of a law 
after 5 months does not make sense, especially when that law has not 
yet had a chance to be tested.
  Accordingly, I urge my colleagues today to join me in supporting H.R. 
4000, the POW/MIA Restoration Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me, and I 
commend him for his staunch support of this measure.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], chairman of the Committee on 
Rules.
  (Mr. SOLOMON asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, as former chairman of the Task Force on 
POW-MIA's, and a member of that task force, I just want to thank all of 
the Members for bringing this vital piece of legislation to the floor. 
It ought to be made part of the omnibus appropriation bill that is 
coming to this floor so it becomes a law, without any question about 
it.

                              {time}  1530

  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Packard].
  (Mr. PACKARD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak this afternoon to the 
civilian MIA's and POW's. There are far more qualified men in this body 
to speak about the military MIA's and prisoners of war. I was a young 
man of 10 years old and I was the 10th child of 17 children when my 
father went to Wake Island to help build a military air base. He was a 
civilian. He, of course, was taken prisoner shortly after the war broke 
out. Wake Island was bombed the same day that Pearl Harbor was bombed 
and every day thereafter until it fell to the Japanese. He served the 
entire war years in a prison camp. It was almost 2 years before my 
mother and his children found out whether he was alive or not. If we 
did not have the Government to follow and to look after and be able to 
report to the families of any prisoner of war, whether it be a military 
or a civilian prisoner of war, the families have no place to turn to. 
They are left without information. They have no resources or no source 
to get information about their family member who might be held in a 
prison camp.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge that this bill be passed and signed into 
law. It will require the Government to keep track of and to report to 
the families of military prisoners of war but it will also make the 
same requirement for the civilians who might be involved in Government 
contracting and thus the Government has a responsibility to report to 
the families and keep them posted. Had we had that information, we 
would have certainly not gone through the anguish, the bitterness, and 
the difficulty that we did.
  It was a pleasure, of course, to see my father come home, but we 
should have known long before he did. Two years is too long to know 
whether your father is alive or not.
  I urge the Members to pass this and then urge the President to sign 
it.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Missouri [Mr. Talent], a very valuable member of our committee.
  Mr. TALENT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my chairman for yielding me this 
time and I want to congratulate him for his work on this and the 
gentleman from Virginia [Mr. Pickett] for his work as well and the 
leadership of the House for bringing this bill to the floor so quickly.
  Like many of the people who have spoken on this, I want to relate my 
remarks from a personal standpoint. I do not have a personal 
connection, but a lot of my constituents do. When I got elected to 
Congress in 1992 they came and talked to me about the issue. I decided 
to study it some. After I studied it, it did not take all that long, I 
reached the conclusion that indeed we had left hundreds and hundreds of 
men behind in Vietnam and probably in Korea as well, and I reached that 
conclusion, Mr. Speaker, to my shame.
  Well, in the years that have passed since then, I along with many of 
the other Members here have tried to get out what we believe is the 
truth about these men and to take whatever steps we can to recover them 
or at least to recover their bodies. It has been difficult to do and I 
am not naive enough to believe that it is going to be any easier in the 
future. But earlier this year we did something that I thought was very 
significant. We established a series of safeguards to try and make sure 
that at least it did not happen again. We put that in the defense 
authorization bill which the President eventually signed, and I was 
very proud of those changes and very sorry when many of them were taken 
out in the bill which recently passed the House and Senate and which 
the President signed. I know that my chairman and others from the House 
fought the deletion of those provisions at that time and I respect 
their work very much. I did not see why we needed to have 10 days for 
commanders in the field to decide whether a person was missing. I did 
not see why we did not need to require forensic, standard forensic 
certification before finding that a bone or a tooth was sufficient to 
identify a missing serviceman, and I did not see why we should not have 
periodic reviews of cases so that families could have current 
understandings of what had happened to their loved ones. We are 
remedying it now with this bill. I think it is an attempt, after the 
fact, but an attempt after the fact to keep faith with those we did 
leave behind.
  Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing we can do for them, it is to try 
to make sure it does not happen again.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
North Carolina [Mr. Jones].
  Mr. JONES. Mr. Speaker, Red McDaniel, a returned Vietnam POW told 
Congress: ``We were prepared to be captured; we were prepared to die 
for our country. But we were never prepared to be abandoned!''
  I thank Bob Dornan for his leadership, and for introducing the POW/
MIA Protection Act.
  I ask that my colleagues support this bill to show those still 
missing and

[[Page H11474]]

otherwise unaccounted that we still care,--that we don't consider them 
ghosts, and that they have not been forgotten by an ungrateful nation!
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Chambliss].
  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, I welcome this opportunity to rise in 
support for H.R. 4000. Under the leadership of my chairman on the 
Personnel Subcommittee, Bob Dornan, this Congress has done more for the 
recovery of American servicemen than any Congress before.
  I am proud to support this legislation that sends a clear message to 
the administration that it must drop the rhetoric and adopt the resolve 
to recover missing Americans in Asia.
  I would also like to commend the hard work of the families and 
friends of our missing Americans like Ms. Joanne Shirley of Georgia who 
serves as the chairman of the board of the National League of POW/MIA 
Families. Her hard work, and the work of countless others like her, 
ensures that we remain committed to the promise printed on the POW flag 
that hangs in front of my office--``You are not forgotten.''
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from 
Oklahoma [Mr. Watts].
  Mr. WATTS of Oklahoma. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Spence and I 
thank Chairman Dornan for offering this legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to express my strong support for H.R. 4000 and 
America's forgotten heroes, our POW's and MIA's. Recent hearings before 
the Military Personnel Subcommittee that revealed that more than 900 
American fighting men were left behind in Korea by our Government, and 
on whom the most inhumane experimentation was done, is proof of the 
necessity to enact this legislation. I strongly urge my colleagues to 
support this important legislation if for no other reason than regard 
for those who await the fate of their loved ones, the families.
  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the 
gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan], the chairman of our Military 
Personnel Subcommittee and the author of this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ney). The gentleman from California is 
recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, I want to correct two things. I am proud 
that I was the quarterback, with the help of the gentleman from 
Virginia [Mr. Pickett], to get the legislation, written by veterans and 
sponsored in the Senate by the Republican presidential candidate, a 
World War II veteran, 100 percent disabled and an inspiration in a 
bipartisan way, to all the country that you can still serve when your 
body has been torn apart in combat, and serve well.
  On this side of the aisle, it was the gentleman from New York, Mr. 
Gilman, fighting for it and backed up by others, and I was proud to be 
one of them; on the Senate side, Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New 
Jersey; all of them fighting together; on our side, naval captain 
reserve, retired, the gentleman from South Carolina, Mr. Spence, and 
everybody on our side and everybody on the other side eventually. It 
was a unanimous vote in the full committee, 40 to 0. The six or seven 
that were not there all made it a point to come to me and say, ``I 
would have voted with you if I had been there.'' More original 
cosponsors, 262, than any bill introduced in 20 years. And people came 
to me, like the gentleman from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, the 
Independent, and 30 other Democrats came to me.
  Mr. Speaker, it is amazing to me that we are here on suspension when 
one U.S. Senator, for reasons that are still mysterious, can blackball 
this tonight, or tomorrow.
  Let me read a letter, and it is a leadership letter. It is from the 
gentleman from New York [Mr. Gilman], chairman of the Committee on 
International Relations. That is a leader.
  The gentleman from New York [Mr. Solomon], chairman of the Committee 
on Rules. That is a leader.
  The gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. Spence] is a leader.
  Mr. Pickett is a leader.
  I am a chairman.
  All five chairmen and almost every one of the chairmen of the 
military subcommittees in both Chambers. Are we not leaders?
  We all want the following, but this is from Mr. Gilman and Mr. 
Solomon:
  ``As you consider the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 
1997, we respectfully request that you please attach H.R. 4000, the 
POW/MIA Protection Act.''
  The continuing resolution, the CR, is our last chance to have this 
legislation enacted into law before the end of the session. One person 
will not dare filibuster the Senate over a whole CE to run the 
government and keep 535, minus our Bill Emerson watching us from 
heaven, to keep 533 other people from going home while he filibusters. 
But to blackball a suspension vote like this, even a unanimous one, a 
snap of the fingers, mysteriously, for some people.
  The chairmen continue: ``As you are well aware,'' this bill ``will 
restore the provisions that were removed from the Missing Service 
Personnel Act,'' at 11:52 at night, without a phone call to me, ``by 
the McCain amendment to the 1997 Defense Authorization Conference 
Report. It requires no additional funding.
  ``Under the language in the Defense Authorization Act,'' which was 
law from February 10 to this Tuesday, a couple of days ago. And Clinton 
did not even know this was in the bill when he signed it, or he could 
have said ``I will veto it,'' and then he would have had a claim on the 
POW families because he always tried to get to the right of another war 
combat person, President Bush, on this.
  I have to correct one tiny thing that this hero the gentleman from 
Texas, Sam Johnson, said. It is not 48 hours. We negotiated it with the 
POW who heroically withstood 6 years of deprivation and torture, the 
gentleman from Florida, Pete Peterson. It is 10 full days for a CINC. 
That was the one amendment of this, 10 full days, to paraphrase Mr. 
Johnson. Is that an inconvenience on a combat commander, particularly 
Marines, who almost have it emblazoned in their brains we do not leave 
our wounded on the battlefield, let alone desert our missing? I do not 
think so.
  ``Missing servicepersons can be declared dead by the Pentagon without 
credible proof,'' as of Tuesday. If a body were recovered that was not 
identifiable by visual means, forensic certification is no longer 
required, as of Tuesday.
  We restore that.
  ``Criminal penalties were removed for government officials'' get 
these words, ``who knowingly and willingly withhold information related 
to the disappearance, whereabouts, or status of a missing person.'' 
What clod would do that? Some criminal person once in every 10 years? 
But the families want this to prevent people not paying attention to 
them being included in the process 10, 20, 30, 40 years later.
  ``H.R. 4000 would restore the original language,'' the Dole-Gilman 
language, that has been public law for months, since February 10. 49-0 
vote in the full committee.
  ``We realize that there are numerous difficult choices being made in 
organizing this Omnibus'' CR bill. ``However, it is critical that H.R. 
4000 be included in the measure to,'' and this is Chairman Gilman  and 
Chairman Jerry Solomon, an Air Force veteran and a Marine veteran, to 
reestablish the core of the Missing Service Personnel Act.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from California 
has expired.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, could I ask the gentleman from Virginia [Mr. 
Pickett] if I could have any remaining time he has?
  Mr. PICKETT. If the gentleman will allow me to yield to the gentleman 
from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery] for a unanimous-consent request, then 
I will yield him time.
  Mr. DORNAN. Absolutely.
  Mr. PICKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Mississippi [Mr. Montgomery].
  (Mr. MONTGOMERY asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 4000. I 
commend the gentleman from California [Mr. Dornan], the author of the 
bill. We have worked together for years on this issue. I thank the 
gentleman for giving me this opportunity.

[[Page H11475]]

  Mr. PICKETT. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from 
California [Mr. Dornan].


                      announcement by the speaker

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Before the gentleman continues, the Chair 
would remind Members of the House, it is not in order to cast 
reflections on the Senate or its Members individually or collectively.
  The gentleman may proceed.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, before I continue, I was remiss in talking 
about heroes on both sides of the aisle. General Montgomery has gone to 
Hanoi itself, has argued eyeball to eyeball in the 1970's starting, 
chaired a commission, has given so much time as he has to every aspect 
of military life, all services, and has been properly rewarded by every 
veterans group in this country. Every enlisted group and every officer 
group has commended him for his undying support of our men in the 
Reserves, the Guard, on active duty, and yes, those left by political 
and diplomatic circumstances behind while others walked across a 
freedom bridge or got on a freedom bird in Hanoi, those big Air Force 
C-141's.

                              {time}  1545

  I left out the last line of Chairmen Gilman and Solomon. ``Our 
Nation's POWs and missing-in-action and their families deserve no less 
than this being put on the CR.''
  I am not casting aspersions on anybody in the other body; I am 
talking about our leadership here. I am a Newt Gingrich fan. I 
supported him at every point in his career. He is a son of an Army 
artillery officer, as I am the son of an Army artillery officer. He 
promised me, he saw no reason this could not go on the CR. Kick into 
high gear, Mr. Speaker; do it for these families. They are counting on 
you. Mr. Armey, Mr. DeLay, to all the leadership, there is only a 
handful between Jerry Solomon and Ben Gilman and the Speaker at the 
top. They all promised me this could be done.
  Staff tells me, ``We can't put authorizing language on the CR.'' This 
does not cost a nickel. This is a point of honor. I deliberately wore 
my RAF, Royal Air Force, regimental tie today. Can you hear Churchill's 
words ringing down through history? ``Never in the course of human 
conflict have so many owed so much to so few.''
  Well, we are the many here, and we owe it to the few left behind to 
do the right thing here and put it on the CR so it cannot be 
blackballed in the other distinguished Chamber.
  Now, this POW-MIA Act will further ensure that the families are 
treated with respect by the U.S. Government and are provided with full 
disclosure of the facts regarding their loved one's fate.
  Imagine taking a report of American pilots sent from Korea, not 
through China, but through Siberia, to the Soviet Union, for air combat 
tactics, information, and then to reside there as guinea pigs or God 
knows what, for any other intelligence or stealing identity schemes by 
the MVD and then the KGB?
  Imagine a report of that thing being given to the Russians, and when 
former and current KGB people at the time objected to it, it came back 
here and was stamped ``working document.'' Thank heavens the guy named 
Ross who did that was fired within a week.
  Imagine backing off from your own work product because former KGB 
people out of nothing but embarrassment or maybe ongoing operations say 
``we reject this U.S. report.'' And then the families could not get 
that report? It was suppressed, so that the loved ones of the people 
involved here could not get the best work effort of our best 
intelligence sources on what happened to them? It is outrageous.
  The gentleman from California [Mr. Packard] summed it up beautifully 
for his dad, Forrest Packard. Because he was 46 he was put to work in 
the hospital. All his young construction workers were given that old 
tin pot helmet that my dad wore in World War I, a Springfield 1903 
rifle, and told, ``Defend Wake Island.''
  Some of them died as civilians with a gun and helmet. The ones 
captured along with Forrest Packard, 200 of them were executed. The 
lucky ones that did not die in Manchuria or other coal mines under the 
Japanese warloads like Ron Packard's dad, the older ones were sent off 
to prison camps in Japan. But the 200 best young kids that stayed, that 
were hired for $25 a month, they worked as slave labor for 2 years, 
still building pill boxes, and then were executed as we bypassed Wake 
Island. How could any Member of this or the other body say civilians do 
not count?
  ``Slang word, cuss word, write them off. They all make $100,000 a 
week.''
  Give me a break. These kids were making nothing for 2 years until 
they were executed. Restore the requirement not for 40 hours, but as 
soon as possible, which is reasonable, not later than 10 hours, for the 
review board to provide a description to the parents and the primary 
relatives, principally other brothers and sisters and grown-up children 
who become primary relatives, if evidence comes forward and if they 
want it. It is not an immediate review of every case cycled over and 
over. The rest of it is pretty well-known in this House.
  I beg my leadership on this last day, I beg you to put it in the CR.
  Mr. Speaker, I include for the Record the letter referred to.

                  Committee on international relations


                           September 27, 1996

     To: House Leadership
     From: Chairman Benjamin A. Gilman, Committee on International 
       Relations, Chairman Gerald Solomon, Committee on Rules.
     Re H.R. 4000, the POW/MIA Protection Act.
       As you consider the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for FY '97, 
     we respectfully request that you please attach H.R. 4000, the 
     POW/MIA Protection Act. The continuing resolution is our last 
     chance to have this legislation enacted into law before the 
     end of the session.
       As you are well aware, H.R. 4000 will restore the 
     provisions that were removed from the Missing Service 
     Personnel Act of 1996 by the McCain amendment to the 1997 
     Defense Authorization Conference Report. It requires no 
     additional funding or expenditures.
       Under the language in the Defense Authorization Act:
       Unit commanders are permitted to wait 10 full days (rather 
     than 48 hours) before reporting that a service person a 
     missing or unaccounted for.
       Missing service persons can be declared dead by the 
     Pentagon without credible proof. If a body were recovered 
     that was not identifiable by visual means, forenic 
     certification would no longer be required.
       Criminal penalties were removed for government officials 
     who knowingly and willingly withhold information related to 
     the disappearance, whereabouts, or status of a missing 
     person.
       H.R. 4000 would restore the original language of the 
     Missing Service Personnel Act. This bill, which at present 
     has over 270 cosponsors, was passed unanimously out of the 
     National Security Committee on September 17, 1996, 49-0!
       We realize that there are numerous difficult choices being 
     made in organizing this Omnibus Bill. However, it is critical 
     that H.R. 4000 be included in the measure to reestablish the 
     core of the Missing Service Personnel Act. Our nation's POW/
     MIA's and their families deserve no less.
  Mr. BUYER. Mr. Speaker, when a young man or woman joins our military, 
they make a commitment to support and defend our Constitution. At that 
same time, our Government assumes a sacred commitment to care for those 
personnel throughout their service.
  I am appalled by recent revelations, made in Chairman Dornan's 
Military Forces and Personnel Subcommittee, that on two occasions, our 
Government knowingly left live POW's behind at the end of a conflict. 
This is outrageous and inexcusable.
  This legislation restores provisions removed from the law by this 
year's Defense authorization bill that make it difficult for such a 
grave breach of confidence to happen again.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. Speaker, in regard to rollcall No. 449, I would like 
to register my remarks in support of H.R. 4000, a bill to restore 
certain missing persons authorities applicable to the Department of 
Defense. I was unavoidably detained and was unable to vote on this 
measure. However, I am a cosponsor and strong supporter of H.R. 4000. 
It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to account for every 
U.S. service man and woman sent into combat to protect and defend the 
United States and its interests. If soldiers are taken as prisoners of 
war [POW] or are determined to be missing in action [MIA], the 
Department of Defense must investigate their cases until it has 
exhausted all hope of locating these individuals. They should not be 
declared dead merely because of the passage of time. I support H.R. 
4000 because it establishes strict guidelines to account for POW's and 
MIA's and to monitor their status. This legislation will ensure that 
there are specific procedures for meeting these guidelines. We owe this 
to missing soldiers and their families. I would have voted ``yea'' on 
H.R. 4000.
  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, as a young marine in my youth, I was proud 
to have

[[Page H11476]]

served in the U.S. Marine Corps during our Korean war, but never had 
the opportunity to serve in Korea. I still live by the fundamental 
lesson I learned from my beloved corps. This lesson is very simple--
accomplish your mission and take care of your buddies.
  A mission that has always guided me in my congressional career is an 
unwavering commitment to achieve the fullest possible accounting for 
those servicemen still missing in action. In accomplishing this mission 
we all take care of our buddies.
  During my service, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and my fellow marines 
stood up and stopped communism dead in its tracks on the Korean 
Peninsula, making this country proud. And make no mistake about it--we 
won that war!
  But tragically, all wars have a severe price, and many of my fellow 
warriors who will remain forever young in my minds were left behind. 
Remembering that mission--the fullest possible accounting of our 
buddies--recently in the 104th Congress, the tragic fate of POW's in 
Korea was revealed. Information has been made public that hundreds of 
Korean war veterans were indeed left behind.
  The Korean war, called the ``forgotten war'', still reached out over 
40 years later and beckons all of us to never have forgotten warriors.
  I pledge that there will be unrelenting pressure from Congress on all 
individuals and organizations within our Government with any relevant 
information to come forward. We owe all family members an understanding 
as to what happened to their loved ones--silence is not an option.
  We in Washington, in both political parties and on both ends of 
Pennsylvania Avenue, the Congress and the President, have a sacred and 
moral responsibility to resolve uncertainty of all cases of POW's and 
MIA's. That means not only those from the Korean war, but the 
unresolved cases from the Vietnam War as well.
  Perhaps more than any war, Vietnam continues to illustrate the 
complexity of the POW/MIA issue, In 1973, 591 Americans were released 
by the North Vietnamese. And as of this date, the National League of 
Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia report 
that ``2,140 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the 
Vietnam war.''
  Therefore, the fundamental lesson I learned from my experiences as an 
advocate in supporting POW/MIA's and their loved ones is to have 
unrelenting vigilance in always passing the strongest possible 
legislation. All Members of both parties are well aware, H.R. 4000 will 
restore the provisions that were removed from the Missing Service 
Personnel Act of 1996 by the McCain amendment to the 1997 Defense 
authorization conference report. It requires no additional funding or 
expenditures.
  Under the language in the Defense Authorization Act:
  Unit commanders are permitted to wait 10 full days before reporting 
that a service person is missing or unaccounted for.
  Missing service persons can be declared dead by the Pentagon without 
credible proof. If a body were recovered that was not identifiable by 
visual means, forensic certification would no longer be required.
  Criminal penalties were removed for Government officials who 
knowingly and willingly withhold information related to the 
disappearance, whereabouts, or status of a missing person.
  H.R. 4000 would restore the original language of the Missing Service 
Personnel Act. The bill, which at present has over 270 cosponsors, was 
passed unanimously out of the National Security Committee on September 
17, 1996.
  It is critical that H.R. 4000 be passed and included in the omnibus 
appropriations bill for fiscal year 1997. Our Nation's POW/MIA's and 
their families deserve no less.
  Mr. EVERETT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4000, 
legislation to restore a number of key provisions relating to the 
Department of Defense missing persons policy that were modified or 
deleted in the fiscal year 1997 Defense Authorization Act--H.R. 3230--
as the request of the Clinton Administration and the Senate. I was 
pleased to be an original cosponsor of this measure which was 
unanimously reported out of the National Security Committee 45 to 0.
  Among the provisions included in H.R. 4000, this bill will 
reestablish the 48-hour time period that a field commander must report 
a missing person, restores the requirement that the theater commander 
must assess the adequacy of actions taken to resolve the missing 
person's status, restores the requirement that the status of persons 
last known to be alive be reviewed every 3 years for 30 years, and 
restores criminal penalties for the knowing and willful withholding of 
information from a missing person's file.
  The restoration of these provisions are significant in that the 
United States must never again leave behind American prisoners of war 
or those declared ``missing in action'' without exhausting every means 
available to determine the fate of all U.S. servicemen.
  One of the most important commitments this government can make to 
those patriots who are willing to fight and die for our freedom, is to 
ensure that the United States will never abandon them in the hardships 
of war. Equally important is to instill this commitment with the 
families of our uniformed personnel. They both must have full 
confidence that their support from the United States will always be 
strong, and never fade. This legislation certainly helps us keep this 
commitment and I urge its adoption.
  Mr. PICKETT. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from South Carolina [Mr. spence] that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4000, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  Mr. DORNAN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 5, rule I, and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________