[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 81 (Friday, June 19, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H4872-H4873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 AWARD OF DIRECTOR'S MEDAL TO RICHARD G. FECTEAU AND JOHN T. DOWNEY ON 
                             JUNE 25, 1998

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GOSS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the extraordinary 
service and sacrifice for this Nation of two officers of the Central 
Intelligence Agency, Mr. Richard G. Fecteau and Mr. John T. Downey.

[[Page H4873]]

  On June 25, 1998, George Tenet, the Director of the Central 
Intelligence Agency, will present the Director's Medal to Dick Fecteau 
and Jack Downey for reasons that, to some extent, I am able to describe 
in this forum today.
  Except for their kind indulgence in allowing me to commemorate this 
event on the floor of the House, Dick Fecteau and Jack Downey will 
receive their awards as privately and as quietly as they served, and 
sacrificed for, our country.
  In 1951, fresh from college, Dick Fecteau and Jack Downey joined the 
clandestine service of the Central Intelligence Agency. After a period 
of training, they were sent to east Asia to conduct agent re-supply and 
pick-up operations over China as part of our war effort in Korea.
  In such operations, Mr. Fecteau and Mr. Downey were to drop supplies 
and to retrieve agents for debriefing by flying in low, among the 
trees, and literally snatching agents from the ground. These operations 
are extremely difficult and demanding in peacetime. Needless to say, in 
war zones, they are outright perilous.
  In November 1952, Mr. Fecteau and Mr. Downey were part of a crew that 
was to fly into China, swoop to tree level, and snatch an agent from 
the ground. As their plane descended and approached the snatch site, it 
was hit by machine gun and small arms fire. The plane crashed and 
burned, killing the two pilots. Mr. Fecteau and Mr. Downey survived, 
but they were captured by the forces of the People's Republic of China.
  In 1954, 2 years later, China sentenced Mr. Fecteau and Mr. Downey to 
life in prison. Their sentencing was, I understand, the first time that 
the families of the two learned that they were still alive. Over the 
next 20 years, Mr. Fecteau and Mr. Downey were subjected to extensive 
and aggressive interrogations and to long periods of solitary 
confinement. Year after year the two endured this suffering and 
deprivation and they did so with dignity and courage and an abiding 
faith in our country.
  This Nation ultimately did not fail them. In December of 1971, nearly 
20 years later, our government finally obtained the release of Dick 
Fecteau. And in March of 1973, we obtained the release of Jack Downey.
  Dick Fecteau returned to the agency and continued his career. In 1976 
he retired and joined the staff of Boston University, his alma mater, 
as assistant director of athletics. He retired from BU in 1989. Today 
Dick Fecteau lives with his wife, Peg, outside of Boston.
  Jack Downey retired from the agency in 1973. Some of us feel that a 
baccalaureate from Yale is perfectly serviceable; but Jack, however, 
went on from there to Harvard Law School, and in 1976 he entered legal 
practice. In 1990 he was appointed to the bench in Connecticut and 
became a senior judge in the State system. Today Judge Downey lives 
with his wife, Audrey, in New Haven.
  These, Mr. Speaker, are the extraordinary stories of two 
extraordinary people. Their awards, it seems to me, are most properly 
for the totality of their lives; for answering their country's call; 
for engaging in perilous operations under fire; for enduring 
unimaginable hardship in Chinese prisons; and, perhaps most of all, for 
returning to their families, to their communities and to their country 
and continuing to contribute and give and make a difference in their 
communities.

                              {time}  1415

  These awards, Mr. Speaker, are for the extraordinary lives of Dick 
Fecteau and Jack Downey. I am honored to commemorate their lives before 
this body.
  Dick and Jack, thank you and Godspeed. May this Nation always have 
citizens such as you to count on.

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