[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 1, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3607-S3608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        COMMANDER SCOTT SPEICHER

  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Madam President, I rise to address a subject 
that is heavy on my heart. It goes back to 1991. The first American 
shot down and declared dead in the gulf war was Commander Scott 
Speicher of the U.S. Navy from Jacksonville, FL. He was pronounced by 
the Department of Defense, indeed, the then-Secretary of Defense, as 
having been killed in action.
  We have learned over the intervening 11 years, the evidence strongly 
suggests Commander Speicher survived being shot down. That credible 
intelligence report indicates that someone who drove him from the crash 
site to the hospital has stepped forward as an eyewitness. For 11 
years, his family in Jacksonville have pondered the question, Is he 
alive?
  This is truly a gripping human drama. But it is just that more 
gripping because the U.S. military has a creed among pilots that when 
you have to punch out, you are going to have a rescue team that will 
come get you. Against all odds, they will come, try to find you, and 
get you out alive.
  This awful question hangs over the CDR Scott Speicher case that we 
abandoned him.
  So 11 years later, what we need to do is to use every avenue to try 
to find out, is he alive? Is he in Iraq? If he is, we need to get him 
out. If he is not, we need to find out the specific circumstances that 
led to his death after his apparent surviving being shot down in the 
Iraqi desert.
  A couple of our Senators have been involved in this case: Senator Bob 
Smith of New Hampshire and Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas. There is a 
Kansas connection with Commander Speicher. I kind of backed into this 
situation recently when I saw an opening, and I took it.
  I was in Damascus, Syria, and spoke to some of our Embassy staff. Did 
they have any information? They had inquired of the Syrian Government a 
year ago and had no reply. So later that day, I found myself with 
Senator Shelby and Congressman Cramer in a 2-hour meeting with the 
Syrian President, President Assad, the son of the long-time Syrian 
President who had died a couple of years ago and has been succeeded by 
his son. I saw the opening, and I took it.
  I asked the Syrian President if he would use his good offices and 
task his intelligence apparatus to see what they could find out from 
Iraq and their contacts with Iraqi intelligence activities.
  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent I be allowed to continue 
until such time as the majority leader arrives.
  Mr. REID. Why don't we do it for a time certain because he may never 
arrive.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Five minutes?
  Mr. REID. How about 5 o'clock?
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. I thank the Senator from Nevada, our wonderful 
assistant majority leader.
  This is a very important case that I wanted to explain to the Senate.
  We were sitting there with the young President, with whom we have 
significant differences of opinion in the Middle Eastern crisis. We 
talked to him about Hezbollah and suggested he should pull off his 
support of that terrorist activity. We thanked him for his help with 
regard to our going after al-Qaida--and they have been helpful. We 
thanked him for his support, protecting our United States interests in 
Syria, particularly our Embassy that has no setback from the street in 
Damascus. At the time we were there, there was a 100,000-person 
demonstration. Of course, they had the riot police lined up shoulder to 
shoulder to protect our Ambassador's residence as well as the Embassy.
  But I saw the opening. I asked him, and he said he would.
  Later on, as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, suddenly I 
found myself face to face, right over here in our Foreign Relations 
Committee room in the Capitol, with the Prime Minister of Lebanon. I 
told him the story. I told him the gripping story of a family; the 
children want to know, is their daddy alive? And the Prime Minister of 
Lebanon, Rafic Hariri, said he, too, would see through his good offices 
and his intelligence apparatus if they could find out any information.
  I have spoken to Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and the Chairman of 
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Myers,

[[Page S3608]]

about asking. I have spoken to Secretary Rumsfeld, as recently as 35 
minutes ago, about this case.
  Because it is Iraq, it puts someone such as Secretary Rumsfeld in a 
difficult situation because he naturally is concerned, as we all are, 
about wanting to take out Saddam Hussein who, if he has not built, he 
certainly will be trying to build, weapons of mass destruction. We are 
going to have to protect the position of the United States and the free 
world by not letting him do that. So it makes it difficult for us at 
this particular time, trying to get information. It is so important in 
this gripping human drama.
  In the late 1990s, the Department of Defense actually changed the 
status of Commander Speicher from ``killed in action'' to ``missing in 
action.'' At some point, with further evidence, it may well be that 
they will consider changing the status, if the evidence is there, from 
``missing in action'' to ``prisoner of war.'' That, of course, would be 
welcome news because that would mean that he is alive. Then we would 
have to address the question of how to get him home to his loved ones.
  It is going to take the attention of a lot of people. I have written 
to the Embassies in that region of the world, asking our Ambassadors to 
ask their friends and their contacts, to see if we can get a little 
snippet of information. We owe this to the family. But we owe it to 
every military pilot, past, present, and future, who needs to have the 
confidence to know, if they are shot down, the rescue forces are coming 
to get them and we are not going to abandon them.
  There is now talk that Iraq will invite a delegation to come to 
investigate. If it is another charade, as were some of the 
investigations as to whether or not there are weapons of mass 
destruction, then that is not going to be profitable. It should be a 
high-level delegation so it will be accorded the respect of the 
receiving Iraqi Government in order that access will be given. For 
example, this eyewitness account that he was driven to the hospital 
from the crash site--what hospital? Let's see the records of the 
hospital. If he was released from the hospital, where was he sent? Was 
he sent to a prison? What prison? Let's see the records of that prison. 
Let's see tangible evidence so we can know the fate of CDR Scott 
Speicher.
  The Nation owes this to our military. The Nation owes it to Commander 
Speicher's family.
  I thank the Chair for the opportunity to share this matter with the 
Senate.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Carnahan). The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I may 
proceed for 10 minutes as in morning business. I understand the leader 
and others will momentarily be on the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HOLLINGS. I thank the distinguished Presiding Officer.

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