[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 158 (Monday, November 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12480-S12481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE KOREAN WAR

 Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, as part of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, the conferees included a 
provision (sec. 1083) authorizing the Secretary of Defense to begin to 
plan, coordinate, and execute a program to commemorate the 50th 
anniversary of the Korean war.
  The Department of the Army--under the able leadership of retired 
General Kicklighter--has been designated to carry out this 50th 
anniversary program. A good friend of mine, Mr. Roy Martin, former 
mayor of Norfolk, VA, and currently chairman of the Gen. Douglas 
MacArthur Foundation in Norfolk, has taken the lead in planning a 
series of commemorative events for this very special anniversary.

[[Page S12481]]

  As a veteran of the Korean war, I was disappointed to learn--the day 
after the defense authorization conference report was approved by the 
Senate--that the provision we included in our bill to commemorate this 
historic event was inadequate. The conferees acted in good faith to 
authorize a program worthy of the event. Unfortunately, new information 
came to light after the conclusion of our conference which revealed 
that the $100,000 we had authorized would not be sufficient.
  In an effort to correct this oversight, at my request Senator 
Thurmond introduced S. 1507, a bill making technical corrections to the 
defense authorization bill, to provide $1 million for the Korean war 
celebration. That bill passed the Senate last evening, and the House 
has indicated that it will pass this legislation before the end of the 
current session.
  While I understand that this will not be enough to fund the entire 
Korean war commemoration program, it will solve the immediate problem 
for fiscal year 1998.
  I pledge to my follow Korean war veterans that I will work with the 
Department of the Army in the coming fiscal years to ensure that 
adequate funding is provided by the Congress to fund a commemoration 
that is worthy of the brave men and women who served so well on the 
battlefields of Korea.

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