[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 53 (Thursday, April 22, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DISPARAGING THE HONORABLE SERVICE OF VIETNAM VETERANS

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago a Vietnam veteran went to the 
Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and he delivered a stinging 
indictment of our American troops, all of the American troops serving 
in Vietnam. He stated that murders and other crimes were ``not isolated 
instances, but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full 
awareness of officers at all levels of command.''
  That individual who alleged that our military openly and 
systematically violated the Geneva Conventions more than any other body 
is now running for President, and that is Senator Kerry.
  Many of these charges rose from the Winter Soldier Investigation, 
where activists gathered to describe these war crimes. It was later 
learned that many of those who confessed these war crimes never served 
near a battlefield. It was a fraud.
  Senator Kerry disparaged the honorable service of all the countless 
veterans who served in Vietnam with these charges, and he should 
apologize for what he said against his fellow veterans.

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