[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 22, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10728-S10729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                   POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY IN WYOMING

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today with my good friend 
and colleague, Senator Enzi, to recognize the Proclamation of the 
Governor of Wyoming declaring September 18 as ``POW/MIA Recognition 
Day'' in Wyoming.
  I have come to this floor several times in my Senate career to extol 
the

[[Page S10729]]

great sacrifices that our fighting men and women have made to protect 
this country and the ideals of freedom and democracy that we hold so 
dear. We owe these men and women a huge debt of gratitude. And I 
believe, Mr. President, that debt continues until we have brought home, 
or accounted for, all our missing service men.
  Mr. President, I ask that the text of the proclamation be printed in 
the Record.
  The proclamation follows.

                        Governor's Proclamation

       Two thousand eighty-six Americans are still missing and 
     unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, including 6 from the 
     State of Wyoming, and their families, friends, and fellow 
     veterans still endure uncertainty concerning their fate.
       United States Government intelligence and other evidence 
     confirm that Vietnam could unilaterally account for hundred 
     of missing Americans, including many of the 446 still missing 
     in Laos and the 75 still unaccounted for in Cambodia, by 
     locating and returning identifiable remains and providing 
     archival records to answer other discrepancies.
       The President has normalized relations with Vietnam, 
     believing such action would generate increased unilateral 
     account for Americans still missing from the Vietnam War, and 
     such increased results have not yet been provided by the 
     Government of Vietnam.
       Now, therefore, be it resolved that the State of Wyoming 
     calls on the President to reinvigorate United States efforts 
     to press Vietnam for unilateral actions to locate and return 
     to our nation remains that would account for hundreds of 
     America's POW/MIA's and records to help obtain answers on 
     many more.
       For these significant reasons, I, Jim Geringer, Governor of 
     the State of Wyoming, do hereby proclaim September 18th, 
     1998, to be ``POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY'' in Wyoming, and 
     encourage all citizens to observe this day with appropriate 
     ceremonies.
       In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused 
     the Great Seal of the State of Wyoming to be affixed this 
     29th day of July, 1998.
                                                     Jim Geringer,
                                                         Governor.

  Mr ENZI. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the action of my 
State's Governor in proclaiming September 18, 1998, as Wyoming's POW/
MIA Recognition Day. Over 2,000 Americans are still missing in Vietnam, 
Cambodia, and Laos, and over 8,000 on the Korean peninsula. Those heart 
rending facts make this a most fitting gesture indeed. These men gave 
everything they had to give in causes whose worthiness can be 
empirically verified: By comparing the prosperity of South Korea with 
the evil devastation to its North; By comparing the poverty and tyranny 
of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia with what might have been as evidenced 
in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. We must never forget the 
sacrifice of those who have no headstones in our national cemeteries. 
Hence the importance of efforts such as Governor Geringer's, which 
remind the Nation of our continuing and unfulfilled responsibility to 
account for the remains of these men for the sake of their families and 
our national conscience. I commend Governor Geringer for his 
proclamation and I urge the President to intensify his efforts at 
retrieving the remains of America's missing-in-action. In comparison 
with their sacrifice, this gesture is humble indeed, but sincere and 
important nonetheless. Surely a grateful America can perform this small 
task.

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