[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 110 (Wednesday, September 15, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H7214-H7217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THANKS OF THE HOUSE TO AMERICAN POW/MIAs ON NATIONAL POW/MIA
RECOGNITION DAY
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 771) expressing the thanks of the House of
Representatives and the Nation for the contributions to freedom made by
American POW/MIAs on National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 771
Whereas from World War II to the present, more than 88,000
members of the Untited States Armed Forces remain unaccounted
for;
Whereas nearly 50,000 former American prisoners of war are
currently living in the United States;
Whereas the United States owes a significant debt of
gratitude for the sacrifice and hardships endured by former
prisoners of war and missing personnel;
Whereas former prisoners of war continue to serve and
inspire our nation;
Whereas National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one of the six
days specified by law as days on which the POW/MIA flag is to
be flown over specified Federal facilities and national
cemeteries, post offices, and military installations; and
Whereas tens of thousands of American families have loved
ones who are still listed as unaccounted for and daily endure
tremendous hardship and emotional suffering: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) recognizes that National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one
of the six days specified by law (pursuant to section 902 of
title 36, United States Code) as a day on which the POW/MIA
flag is to be flown over specified Federal facilities and
national cemeteries, military installations, and post
offices;
(2) extends the gratitude of the House of Representatives
and the Nation to those who have served their nation in
captivity to hostile forces as prisoners of war;
(3) recognizes and honors the more than 88,000 members of
the United States Armed Forces who remain unaccounted for and
their families;
(4) recognizes the untiring efforts of national POW/MIA
organizations to ensuring that America never forgets the
contribution of the Nation's prisoners of war and unaccounted
for military personnel; and
(5) calls on all Americans to recognize National POW/MIA
Recognition Day with appropriate remembrances, ceremonies,
and activities.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Snyder)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons).
General Leave
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their
remarks on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Connecticut?
There was no objection.
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise today in support of H. Res. 771, a resolution that recognizes
the sacrifices made by prisoners of war and missing in action on
National POW/MIA Recognition Day. The resolution is very
straightforward and my colleague from Georgia (Mr. Collins) and I are
seeking to give proper acknowledgment to National POW/MIA Recognition
Day.
Today, nearly 50,000 former American prisoners of war are living in
the United States. These are family members, these are friends and
neighbors, men and women who fought for our freedom and often suffered
tremendous hardship during their detention. Today, we send a message
from this Capitol that their contribution to the great story of
America's freedom is not forgotten.
Since World War II, more than 88,000 members of the Armed Forces
remain unaccounted for. Today we offer our sympathies to the families
of these soldiers, sailors, airmen and women and Marines missing in
action. Their family members are our family members, they are our
friends and our neighbors, and they wait patiently for their loved ones
to be recovered and returned home for a proper burial. It is hard for
those of us who have not suffered or endured this type of hardship to
imagine how these families deal with their grief. Again today, we pause
to say that on behalf of the Congress and the American people, thank
you. Thank you very much.
This legislation also recognizes that National POW/MIA Recognition
Day is one of the six days specified by law on which the POW/MIA flag
is to be flown over specified Federal facilities and national
cemeteries. Flying this flag is a visible reminder of the sacrifices of
our POWs and MIAs.
As many of my colleagues know, the recovery of MIAs has long been a
passion of mine. In April of last year, I left the U.S. for Vietnam in
the hopes of finding the remains of American soldiers still missing
after nearly 30 years in the Vietnam War. Specifically, my hope was to
recover the remains of Captain Arnold Holm of Waterford, Connecticut,
whose helicopter was shot down over Vietnam in 1972. I met his widow
several years ago and learned that for 30 years she had not had a
funeral ceremony or a memorial service because she held out the hope
that her husband's remains would be found and that he would be brought
back home to Waterford, Connecticut.
{time} 1315
This trip was the first time that I had been back to Vietnam in
almost 30 years, having served there in the U.S. Army in the 1960s and
in the CIA in the 1970s.
I spent 2 days with American and Vietnamese officers, with the joint
POW/MIA Accounting Command in the jungles near Hue, Vietnam. We
recovered watches, boots, and other assorted items. But we were unable
to recover the crash site or the remains of Captain Holm. This was an
emotional mission for me, for my family, for the family of Captain
Holm, and for his friends. And this mission continues. We will continue
to search for the remains of our missing.
Several families in Connecticut have been blessed with the recovery
of the remains of their loved ones, and this would include Robert Bush
of Hamden; Legrande Cole of Danbury; Crosley Fitton of Hartford; Irwin
Lerner of Stratford; Richard Rich of Stamford; John Brooks Sherman of
Darien; Larry Thorne of Norwalk; and from my own district, Peter
McCarthur Cleary of Colchester, Connecticut, whose remains were
identified February of 2002.
Every day that the POW/MIA flag flies over the Rotunda of this
Capitol it is an important reminder to Members, staff, and visitors of
the sacrifice made by American prisoners of war and the missing in
action. However, on this important day, that flag also flies over the
dome of our Capitol, an important reminder to the world that today we
pause to commemorate National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in support of H.R. 771 and commend the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) for presenting this bill to the House today.
The intent of this legislation, the intent of the country, is to
honor the 50,000 former POWs and the 88,000 still missing in action,
U.S. service people that have served this country so well and so
honorably.
Yesterday was National POW/MIA Recognition Day, in which once a year
we formally remember these very important people. It is such a
tremendous honor to serve in the Congress and to represent Arkansas,
but one of the great honors is the opportunity to meet such wonderful
and great people. A person I recently met from Saline County, Bill
McGinley, is the only person I had ever met who was presented the
Purple Heart posthumously, and I got to talk to him about that
experience.
How does that happen? On January 29, 1944, he was in a bomber and was
flying over Belgium. In fact, the actor Jimmy Stewart was the squadron
commander. Their plane was shot up. He and another man had to bail out,
and he spent the next 9 months hiding out, helped by a family in
Belgium that hid him. His family was first notified that he was
missing, and he has this wonderful scrapbook that he shows me, the
[[Page H7215]]
newspaper articles and the letters; and it goes through the progression
of the notification from the War Department that he was missing and
then the letter from his Congressman that they were sad to report that
he was missing. And finally came the notice that he was presumed dead,
and then the letter from the Member of Congress expressing great sorrow
that he was presumed dead. And at some point his family was presented
with a Purple Heart. And, of course, this story ended happily because 9
months later he was found by allied troops and his family was notified
that he was alive and well.
Not all of these stories end happily. And like the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Simmons), it was my honor in November of 2000 to go
back to Vietnam and to spend time with two sons, Dan and David Evert.
Their father was Captain Lawrence Evert, and he was shot down in 1967
in an F-105 and was presumed dead. There was really not much doubt
about the possibility of his being alive since people had seen a
fireball when his plane went down. But these two young boys, now grown
men, told a story of how, when they were youngsters, they would wear
the bracelet in honor of their dad, and they would tell stories of how
they dreamed of growing up and getting big enough that they could go to
North Vietnam and rescue their dad.
It was very moving to be out at the site of the excavation of this
plane where remains were discovered, and with the two sons. President
Clinton was there. It was a very formal and sobering ceremony. The two
sons had gone there the day before by themselves, and they had a little
ceremony where they buried somewhere on the site the bracelet that they
wore in honor of their dad for all those many years.
And, of course, we remember our POWs and the tremendous suffering
that many of them went through, the uncertainty that their families
thought and knew about what was going on in their life, and the legacy
that they still carry with them today of being separated from not only
their family but from their country for so long a time.
And, finally, Mr. Speaker, we remember today all of our troops, all
of our men and women serving in uniform; and we particularly remember
the 150,000 serving in Iraq and Afghanistan that know that they are
always at risk of becoming missing or a POW and who work so hard at
doing right by their country, serving their country honorably and
carrying out the foreign policy of this country so well.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished
gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Collins), fellow co-sponsor of this
legislation.
Mr. COLLINS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr.
Simmons) for introducing this resolution and helping to work it through
the channels to make sure that we could get it to the floor today.
H.R. 771 pays recognition and says thanks and gratitude to the
prisoners of war and to the families of the missing in action who have
contributed quite a bit, many paid the ultimate price, so that we could
enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today. I would like to also pay
tribute to the National League of Families, those who have insisted and
worked and tried to bring to a closure missing in action from Vietnam
and to discover all of the information that possibly could be found and
also help with our missing in action from other wars.
Under the leadership of the president of the National League of
Families is Jo Anne Shirley from Dalton, Georgia; the executive
director in Washington, Ms. Ann Griffith. I have visited with them a
number of times, and they never quit. They do not know when the end of
the day comes because they are constantly working, trying to find and
discover remains of our missing in action, particularly those from
Vietnam.
One has to look no further than right here in this Chamber at one of
our colleagues to see what it cost many to be prisoners of war. The
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), shake his hand and one will see
some of the results of brutality that he went through as a prisoner of
war in Vietnam for 6\1/2\ years. Watch him as he walks, his back, as he
was injured in the ejection from his aircraft after being shot down
over Hanoi and went without medical service for months and months. One
of thousands of people like the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson)
who has suffered at the hands of the enemy, his captors.
I recommend that my colleagues get the gentleman's book and read it,
``Captive Warriors.'' It will give them a lot of information and
insight from someone who has been there and served as a POW. And his
wife and the wives of many of our POWs who insisted that contact be
made while they were captive, insisted that our government continue to
search and to try to reach out to find out more information on our
POWs.
And I go back to the family members of the National League of
Families who insist today that the Vietnamese Government extend more
information and extend a helping hand. Oftentimes that helping hand has
not come forth. In my opinion, they have been very lax. They have not
done the things that they could have done in Vietnam. I have made trips
there myself, seeking information, only to be disappointed in the
results that we received while we were there, the lack of information
that we received while there. But, hopefully, the rewards from those
trips will come at a later date.
We still have some 1,850-plus who are missing in action from Vietnam,
Cambodia and Laos. We do have a U.S./Russian Commission that was
established to help to try to find and discover more information about
the remains of those from the Vietnam War. Hopefully, that commission
will be able to make some good reports back, and, again, that comes at
the dedication of the National League of Families.
But there were other wars. Thousands are still missing from World War
II, Korea. I remember as a young boy growing up in rural Georgia, an
aunt of mine who talked about her brother who served in Korea, missing
in action, never heard from him to this day. He has never been heard
from or any remains or any information given on her brother.
May we never forget, Mr. Speaker, may we never forget the service,
the dedication, the patriotism of those who served and those who have
been captured and the families of those who have been missing; and may
we always extend all efforts to find those and never leave one behind,
to see that they are returned to this soil, to their families.
Yes, we owe a lot to our service personnel throughout the history of
this country. We owe a lot to our POWs and our MIAs. God be with their
souls and may God continue to bless the United States of America for
patriots like those who have served as POWs and those who are missing
in action.
Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans).
(Mr. EVANS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 771, legislation
recognizing the contributions toward our freedoms by our POWs, and I am
proud to co-sponsor the resolution which has been introduced by the
good Member from Connecticut. I praise his efforts on this issue and
many others.
I have served on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for almost
the last 22 years. It has given me an opportunity to meet a lot of our
country's heroes. I have always had the utmost respect for our POWs and
our MIAs for their sacrifices, and their sacrifices leaves us all
silenced in their respect.
I would also like to recognize the government of Vietnam, which has
provided the recovery of our service members' remains. Our growing
relationship with Vietnam has been conditional on their cooperation and
support in the recovery of our fallen servicemembers. Deputy Under
Secretary Jerry Jennings who leads the American efforts has praised the
cooperation and the openness by the government of Vietnam that has
ensured the repatriation of nearly 800 remains of our missing
servicemembers. It has been an important task that provides a great
deal for the members of the service and their families, which will
continue until every fallen soldier is brought back home.
I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
[[Page H7216]]
Mr. SNYDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I appreciate once again the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Simmons)
presenting this House resolution to the Congress, to the floor; and I
support it and urge all Members to support it.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back
the balance of my time.
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
In closing, I would simply like to echo the comments of the gentleman
from Georgia (Mr. Collins) in thanking the National League of Families
for their work and for their faith in the fact that we will be able to
locate the remains of their loved ones, wherever they may be around the
world.
Specifically talking about Vietnam, I would also like to share with
my colleagues that these recovery efforts that are ongoing jointly
between officials of the United States of America and the Vietnamese
Government are not safe. They are difficult projects to conduct.
{time} 1330
In April of 2001, a helicopter that was carrying officials from both
companies crashed, killing seven Americans and seven Vietnamese. But I
think that we can gather hope from the fact that this joint effort
between our two countries is going forward. And for whatever wounds
remain from that war, they will be bound up and healed by this
humanitarian effort to locate the remains and recover the remains of
both Americans and Vietnamese missing in action.
Again, in conclusion, on behalf of this Congress, I thank all of
those men and women who have offered their lives in defense of the
freedom and democracy that we enjoy, and in particular, for those
families who have loved ones as yet unrecovered, we thank them for
their service, their sacrifice, and their suffering.
Mr. REYES. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res.
771, expressing the thanks of the House of Representatives and the
Nation for the contributions to freedom made by American POW/MIAs on
National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Today we honor the sacrifices made by POW/MIAs and remember our brave
men and women in uniform whose fate remains unknown. We owe these
heroes more than we could ever repay through mere words for what they
have done for our country. However, with National POW/MIA Recognition
Day and this resolution, we remind all Americans to keep their memory
close in our minds and hearts.
Mr. Speaker, as a Vietnam veteran, I have witnessed firsthand the
heroism of America's soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines in combat.
May we never forget those who were held as POWs in defense of our
country, and those who paid the ultimate price for America and are
still missing in action. In their memory, and on behalf of the families
of all MIAs, may we also renew and strengthen our dedication to
bringing those missing in action home at long last. I proudly fly the
POW/MIA flag in both of my congressional offices and I encourage my
colleagues, and all Americans, to do the same.
Again, Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in
honoring our Nation's POW/MIA heroes by supporting the passage of this
very important legislation.
Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 771.
As we remember our POW and MIAs, I want to share with my colleagues
the text of a speech I recently delivered to a conference in Honolulu
sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies and the
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). At this conference were
representatives from our own country as well as five countries of Asia,
including Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.
Mr. Speaker, I urge swift passage of this important resolution and
continued strong Congressional support for the DPMO.
U.S. POW/MIA Accounting Efforts: Process and Operations, August 11,
2004
Thank you, Department of Defense Assistant Secretary
Jennings, for your very kind introduction.
Thank you also to Dr. Whitley, General Stackpole (who has
contributed so much to Hawaii), and General Whitfield, or
``Q,'' the Commander of our Joint Personnel Operating
Command, located just down the road.
And please allow me to introduce my wife, Audrey, and my
staff assistant, Jackie Conant, both of whose ancestral
roots, like so many of Hawaii's people, lie with you in Asia.
But most of all, Mingalar Par, Zdravstvuite, and Chao ong,
or Aloha! Welcome to Hawaii, and Mahalo!, or thank you, to
each of you for joining us at this vitally important
conference this week, Your simple presence tells the people
of my country everything about the commitment of your
countries and peoples to assisting us all in finding,
identifying and repatriating the sailors, soldiers, marines,
airmen and civilians of our country currently unaccounted for
throughout Asia.
I am Ed Case and I am a Member of the Congress of the
United States, I directly represent 650,000 Americans living
in Hawaii's great Second District, which includes all eight
of Hawaii's major islands, as well as the Northwestern
Hawaiian Islands all the way past Midway Island to Kure
Atoll.
Under our system of governance, we have three separate,
independent and coequal branches of federal government: our
executive branch, headed by our President; our legislative
branch, made up of me and my colleagues in congress; and our
judicial branch, headed by our Supreme Court. From beyond our
shores, it often looks like a pretty messy system, as we
argue and disagree in public over what we should do and not
do, and as we contest elections for our presidency and for
Congress.
Many of our deepest disagreements and our elections have
been and are about whether and under what circumstances we
should have taken or we should take military action beyond
our shores, as was the case with what we refer to as the
Korean and Vietnam Wars and as is the case today in Iraq, and
I recognize with you tonight as citizens of our world the
terrible personal and national tragedies of those and other
hostilities and pay homage to the fallen whoever they were.
But if I can leave you with one and only one message tonight,
it is this: in our country, we are one in our commitment to
find and bring home our missing.
I came of age during the time of Vietnam in a small
community on my home Island of Hawaii. Robbie Peacock was a
handsome and well-liked boy, also from that island, who
graduated some years ahead of me, went off to college,
enlisted as a pilot, and was sent to Asia. His plane
disappeared on a mission and his remains have thus far not
been found. His mother has passed away and his father grieves
for him still. But, far worse, is that for almost 35 years
they have had no finality, no resolution.
I represent Ms. Michie Sasaki in Congress. Her brother,
Private First Class Takeshi Sasaki, went missing in Korea on
April 25, 1951. At the end of 1953, his status was amended to
``Missing in Action and Presumed Dead.''
Fifty years later, Ms Sasaki, along with her sisters,
traveled to Washington DC to attend the 2004 Annual Korean
War/Cold War Government Briefings sponsored by Secretary
Jennings and our Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel
Office. Over 500 individuals representing 225 loss cases
attended the briefings. There weren't just sister or brothers
of those missing in attendance, but nieces and nephews, sons
and daughters, and even some grandsons and granddaughters.
Some 89,000 Americans are still unaccounted for on the
world's battlefields since World War II, including 6,000
Korea and 2,000 Vietnam. 73 of Hawaii's own are missing in
Korea and 12 in Vietnam.
Here's the point: our missing touch each of us, personally,
in our homes, our families and our memories. We have not
forgotten them, we all seek resolution, and we are united in
our efforts.
We know that we are not alone. We know that in the cities
and countrysides of your own countries you have countless
friends and family members similarly unaccounted for. We know
that you and yours also feel still not only your losses but
the lack of resolution. We must help each other.
The endeavors of people like Secretary Jennings, General
Whitfield, the individuals at the Defense Prisoner of War/
Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) and Joint Personnel
Accounting Command (JPAC), and the 600 Americans working
fulltime worldwide to account for our missing is one of our
most important missions. From your country, I salute you all.
And I thank our foreign visitors for your efforts thus far.
You can't imagine the effect even today up Americans like
Michie Sasaki when they read a headline such as that of a few
weeks ago, ``U.S. POW/MIA Official Breakthrough in Vietnam,''
reporting that joint operations will soon resume in the
Central Highlands of Vietnam. Congratulations to Secretary
Jennings and the representatives of Vietnam for your mutual
advancement of our mutual effort.
So, as you all complete your vital work this week and
return to your homes, please take with you these thoughts.
First, for our country, our commitment to accounting for our
missing rises above any internal disagreements; we all want
to finish this mission, and all branches of our government
are united behind and supportive of the efforts of DMPO and
others in our focus on doing so. And second, we want to help
you do the same, for our interests are mutual and exist
notwithstanding the borders within which we live and the
nature of our past, present or future relations.
Perhaps in our joint efforts on this purely humanitarian
cause lie the roots of true peace in our world. Mahalo, and
aloha!
Mr. SIMMONS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kline). All time for debate has expired.
The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from
Connecticut (Mr. Simmons) that the House suspend
[[Page H7217]]
the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 771.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor
thereof) the rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
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