[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 16, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H665-H669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE COMMITMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE RECOVERY AND 
      ACCOUNTING FOR AMERICANS WHO ARE PRISONERS OF WAR OR MISSING

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
pass the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 18) recognizing the historic 
commitment of the United States to the recovery of and full accounting 
for Americans who are prisoners of war or in a missing status.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H.J. Res. 18

       Whereas the surrender during World War II on the Bataan 
     Peninsula, in the Philippines, in April 1942 led to the 
     capture of more than 75,000 American and Filipino military 
     prisoners of war;
       Whereas American, Filipino, and Allied prisoners of war 
     endured the 65-mile Bataan Death March through the jungles of 
     the Philippines and were subjected to brutal abuse from which 
     many hundreds of Americans and many thousands of Filipinos 
     died;
       Whereas thousands more American and Filipino civilians were 
     interned across the region;
       Whereas General Douglas MacArthur, the Allied commander for 
     the Southwest Pacific area, including the Philippine Islands, 
     committed forces under his command to make every effort, as 
     quickly as possible, to liberate prisoner of war camps and 
     internment camps as Allied forces began retaking territory;
       Whereas in the fulfillment of that commitment, United 
     States Army units, together with various Filipino guerilla 
     groups, successfully conducted several operations that 
     liberated thousands of innocent civilians, prisoners of war, 
     and Filipino citizens;
       Whereas in February 1945, elements of the 11th Airborne 
     Division, particularly the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment 
     of that division, and the 672nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion 
     conducted a particularly brave and daring mission behind 
     enemy lines to rescue over 2,000 people at Los Banos 
     internment camp; and
       Whereas the United States has an historic commitment to the 
     recovery of and full accounting for Americans who are 
     prisoners of war or in a missing status: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
     United States of America in Congress assembled,  That 
     Congress--
       (1) recognizes the rescue missions carried out by units of 
     the United States Army, including the 11th Airborne Division, 
     60 years ago in the Philippines during World War II as 
     sterling examples of that commitment; and
       (2) recognizes the bravery and courage of the soldiers and 
     the Filipino guerillas who participated in those rescue 
     missions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Arizona (Mr. Franks) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Butterfield) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks).

                              {time}  1400


                             General Leave

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks on H.J. Res. 18, the legislation under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Arizona?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  When the Philippines fell in April of 1942, more than 75,000 American 
and Filipino servicemen and countless civilians became prisoners of 
war. This number was decimated during the brutal Bataan Death March, 
which saw the death of over 16,000 POWs. Many soldiers survived the 
march, only to find themselves facing murderous treatment in prisoner-
of-war camps scattered throughout the island.
  When General MacArthur began his campaign to retake the Philippines 
in 1945, he made it a priority to liberate soldiers and civilians who 
were interned in these camps. This commitment was particularly 
important, since it was widely believed that captives would be killed 
by their retreating captors if measures were not undertaken to liberate 
them in advance of the main campaign.
  General MacArthur's commitment to the civilian internees and 
prisoners of war on the island manifested itself in a particularly 
heroic way in the Allied raid on the prison camp at Los Banos. It was 
here that Filipino guerrilla forces and the men of the 511th parachute 
infantry regiment of the 11th Airborne division worked in concert to 
organize a multipronged assault with elements attacking from land, air 
and sea to liberate the prisoners of the camp.
  The Allied forces took great risks to free their fellow soldiers and 
civilians who had fallen behind enemy lines. These truly heroic acts 
serve not only as examples of the humanitarian compassion of American 
servicemen and -women but also as an example of our Nation's 
longstanding commitment to leave no fellow soldier, living or dead, in 
enemy hands.
  Mr. Speaker, as we have military personnel spread throughout the 
world today, many of whom are daily risking capture and torture at the 
hands of brutal terrorists, it is more important now than ever to 
recognize and honor the heroism and willing sacrifice of those soldiers 
who risked their own safety not to take a strategic objective, but 
simply to bring a comrade home.
  Our soldiers, marines, airmen and sailors must be able to take a 
small measure of comfort that whatever happens to them in battle, that 
this Nation will always have the will and the resolve to find and 
repatriate all of those who were lost while on duty.
  Mr. Speaker, evil has aggressively manifested itself in many forms 
throughout human history, and for the last 200 years, whether fighting 
totalitarian evil of monarchial, fascist or fanatical roots, American 
servicemen have made a habit of putting themselves squarely in evil's 
way. They have done so, secure in the knowledge that if they fall into 
the hands of the enemy, they will not be forgotten. Indeed, every 
effort possible will be undertaken to bring them home.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the 60th anniversary of the liberation of over 
2,000 prisoners from the camp at Los Banos, and

[[Page H666]]

at a time when our military is deployed in harm's way around the globe, 
let us recognize those individuals who sacrificed to bring their 
brothers and sisters home, and let us honor the heroic actions of the 
past by officially reaffirming our Nation's commitment to leave no 
fighting man or woman in enemy hands at any time, now or in the future.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.J. Resolution 18, 
introduced by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks), my friend and 
colleague on the House Committee on Armed Services.
  This resolution today recognizes our Nation's commitment to the 
recovery and full accounting of Americans who are prisoners of war or 
who are in a missing status from current and previous conflicts, and in 
particular, it recognizes the actions of the 11th Airborne division and 
the Filipino guerrillas who participated in the liberation of an 
internment camp in the Philippines during World War II.
  Following the United States surrender on the Bataan Peninsula in 
April of 1942, thousands of Americans and Filipinos and Europeans, both 
military and civilian, were taken as prisoners of war by the Japanese. 
In the town of Los Banos, on the island of Luzon, over 2,000 civilians, 
including men, women and children, and 12 American Navy nurses, were 
held as captives. From May 14, 1943, until they were freed by Angels on 
February 3, 1945, they were held captive at the former agricultural 
school of the University of the Philippines.
  The 11th Airborne division, also known as the Angels, arrived at 
Leyte Beach in the Philippines on November 19, 1944. Their first 
objective was to clear a mountain pass from Burauen to Ormoc. After 
nearly 3 months of bitter fighting, the 11th Airborne had killed almost 
6,000 enemy soldiers and had driven the Japanese from the pass and 
surrounding areas. On January 6, 1945, the Angels landed on the island 
of Luzon. Their mission was to clear enemy opposition on the major 
highway leading to Manila.
  As American forces successfully regained territory that was lost to 
the Japanese at the beginning of the war, General Douglas MacArthur 
became concerned that many of the prisoners would be killed before they 
could be rescued. The 11th Airborne division was given the 
responsibility of liberating the prisoners at Los Banos. The Angels 
worked with the Filipino guerrilla groups in the area to gain valuable 
information as to the layout of the camp, the schedules of the guards 
and other details that were essential for a successful mission.
  It is said that the rescue of the detainees at Los Banos was one of 
the most successful missions ever conducted. Not one prisoner was 
killed or seriously injured in the assault, and not one paratrooper of 
the battalion that was directly involved was killed.
  The historic rescue of Los Banos by the 11th Airborne and the 
Filipino guerrillas, and other efforts to recover prisoners of war and 
those missing in action are not forgotten. In fact, Mr. Speaker, they 
stand as testament to our Nation's strong commitment to ensure that no 
one will be left behind on the battlefield.
  Today, the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action 
Office continues to coordinate recovery activities and investigate 
locations from past conflicts to ensure a full accounting, a full 
accounting of those who remain missing in action from past conflicts.
  Mr. Speaker, I also wish to speak briefly in support of all POW/MIAs. 
Over the past 100 years, over 88,000 of our fighting men and women are 
still classified as missing in action, remains not recovered or remains 
unidentified. Every American who puts on the uniform of this Nation 
accepts the dangers that are entailed, and I am touched by the strong 
efforts to recover the remains of American servicemen and -women, and 
to find individuals who may still be alive. Every man or woman 
unaccounted for is a family who never knew the fate of a loved one, and 
it is fitting, Mr. Speaker, that our government never let a single 
American be left behind. It is important to the families of our 
fighting men and women, and it is the duty of this government to do so.
  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague on this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), a true American hero.
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that remark and I 
appreciate the gentleman's remarks that just spoke. God bless you.
  I stand here before you as a former prisoner of war in Vietnam. 
Despite 7 years in captivity, with 42 months straight in solitary 
confinement, I am one of the lucky ones because I came home. Some of 
the men I served with in Vietnam did not, and guys, say, oh, we really 
had it rough. I tell my colleagues, the guys in that Bataan Death March 
are the guys who had it rough. Those are the guys that gave their lives 
for this Nation, and we can never repay them in my view.
  I firmly believe we need to send a strong, clear signal that we must 
account for Americans who are prisoners or classified as missing, and 
while I was in captivity, I made it my duty to memorize the names of my 
fellow POWs, committing about 374 names to memory just from tapping on 
a wall, never seeing them. We were trying to memorize them in case 
anybody got out because every one of us thought we could escape. So we 
knew the names but we did not have any idea what they looked like.
  Most of the time we never saw another American except occasionally 
through a crack in the door, but I knew they were there, and I know 
some did not come home, especially from Cambodia and Laos.
  This just is not about Vietnam. It is about the Korean War, Desert 
Storm, Afghanistan, Iraq and World War II. I fought in Korea as well as 
Vietnam. I am on the U.S.-Russia Commission on POWs and MIAs. We have 
been looking for them, and we know some of them were taken to the 
Soviet Union. We are starting to hear about it in the press now. We 
know some of them are still alive, at least some are from the Korean 
War, and we know there may be some still alive today from Vietnam. We 
are still searching for them.
  So help me, if they are alive and we do not get them out, we have not 
done our job. I truly appreciate what my colleagues are doing with this 
resolution. I think it is important that America know that we never 
leave anyone behind. We are Americans and we take care of our own.
  I hope today's action is not just lip service but people continue to 
act, follow through on finding our fellow Americans. We owe it to our 
men and women in uniform and their families because, after all, we are 
the land of the free and the home of the brave.
  God bless our military servicemen and the POWs and MIAs that are 
still out there. I salute each and every one of you.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from 
Hawaii (Mr. Case).
  (Mr. CASE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks, and include extraneous material.)
  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague yielding me time, 
and it humbles me to follow the previous speaker in light of his 
service.
  I rise in full support of this resolution and wish to fully associate 
myself with the comments of my colleagues with respect to the heroic 
rescue missions carried out 60 years ago by units of the U.S. Army in 
the Philippines. It allows us to follow anew not only their efforts but 
also the heroic effort of many, many members of the Filipino citizenry, 
including the Filipino scouts who rose up and fought alongside U.S. 
Armed Forces in the Philippines during the Second World War and allied 
themselves very much with the Allied effort.
  I also want to take the opportunity in this resolution to highlight, 
as the previous speaker said, the work undone, on a broader scale, 
which includes almost 2,000 of our own still unaccounted for in the 
Vietnam War. In that spirit, I want to highlight the great commitment 
shown by our Joint POW/MIA Command, JPAC, which is operated by the 
Defense POW missing personnel office.

[[Page H667]]

  JPAC is headquartered in Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. It was 
activated in October of 2003, and its mission is to achieve the fullest 
possible accounting of all Americans missing, worldwide, as a result of 
our Nation's previous conflicts.
  Of course, the highest priority of JPAC is return of any living 
American that remains a prisoner of war, but equally important is 
bringing resolution to the families who still await news of their loved 
ones.
  JPAC was created from the merger of the Central Identification 
Laboratory-Hawaii and the Joint Task Force Full Accounting and contains 
almost 425 personnel. One-quarter are Navy civilians and the rest 
handpicked soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines. Every individual 
attached to JPAC is chosen through the specialized skills necessary for 
the command's unique mission.
  Some brief facts about JPAC and the Central Identification Lab-
Hawaii. Even today, they are still identifying roughly two individuals 
each week formerly listed as missing.
  They have identified remains from World War I, World War II, the 
Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Cold War, and in each of those 
cases where it is possible, repatriation ceremonies, with a full honor 
guard, are held nearly every month at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. 
As the remains are brought off the plane in flag-draped caskets and 
moved to ground transportation, a multiservice honor guard salutes the 
remains while family members, veterans and members of the Armed Forces 
offer their respects.
  It is also true that JPAC's work extends well into the realm of 
diplomacy because especially with the countries of Asia, where we had 
former enemies, JPAC and its efforts have often meant the initial 
unifying factor, the item on which we can all agree, and they have 
definitely led in many cases to rapproachment between previous enemies.
  In addition to its primary mission of identifying, recovering and 
repatriating the remains of the POWs and MIAs, JPAC personnel also 
support nontraditional and humanitarian missions as well. For example, 
in the recent tsunami effort in southeast Asia, JPAC deployed their two 
teams of eight people, including a forensic anthropologist, forensic 
dentist and other specialists to assist the Government of Thailand to 
identify and recover the bodies of more than 3,500 individuals who died 
there.
  I have here for inclusion with my remarks at this point an article 
that recently appeared in the Honolulu Star Bulletin entitled ``Joint 
POW-MIA Accounting Group Using DNA Expertise,'' which acutely describes 
some of these humanitarian efforts and which contains this very 
poignant remark: ``Everybody is given a name when you are born, and 
everybody should have a name when you die. That's what we do.''

            [From the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jan. 21, 2005]

           Joint POW-MIA Accounting Group Using DNA Expertise

                            (By Craig Gima)

       Phuket, Thailand.--At the Tsunami Victims Assistance 
     Center, unanswered questions hang in the air around the 
     bulletin boards where family members have posted pictures of 
     missing friends and relatives.
       The photos--a haunting reminder of lives probably lost--
     mean there are lives in limbo, families holding on to hope, 
     however faint, unwilling to accept death without proof.
       The large crowds of family members that gathered here daily 
     right after the tsunami are gone now. The people who show up 
     are sometimes friends continuing the search or, as in the 
     case of a visitor earlier in the day, a brother who believes 
     his sister needs his help.
       ``If his sister is dead, he doesn't want to know now,'' 
     said Verity Cattan-Poole, a volunteer at the center who 
     speaks both Thai and English. ``He wants to find her. He 
     thinks possibly that she's somewhere and lost her memory, and 
     he wants to be there to help her.''
       ``In their heart of hearts, I think they know,'' Cattan-
     Poole said. But ``if you have a loved one who has died, you 
     need closure.''
       A little more than two hours north of the center, an 
     international team of forensic scientists that includes 
     members of the Hawaii-based Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command 
     are trying to bring closure to families.
       JPAC is best known for its work in recovering and 
     identifying the remains of U.S. service members from Vietnam 
     and other wars. But it has deployed teams before to 
     disasters, including the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on 
     the Pentagon, the Korean Air crash in Guam and the bombing of 
     a Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1983.
       Two teams of eight people, including a forensic 
     anthropologist, a forensic dentist and mortuary affairs 
     specialists, have been helping the Thai government identify 
     and recover the bodies of more than 5,300 people who died in 
     the tsunami.
       Most of the work is done at Wat Yan Yao, a Buddhist temple 
     about two hours north of Phuket. JPAC also helped coordinate 
     the delivery of supplies and materials such as lights and 
     tents from the U.S. military's relief effort and is helping 
     to set up a temporary morgue, donated by Norway, near the 
     Phuket airport.
       On Wednesday, JPAC members joined thousands of Buddhist 
     monks at a candlelight service at a stadium in Takua Pa, a 
     city in the province north of Phuket where about 4,000 people 
     died.
       Organizers said the memorial service was multi-
     denominational, offering prayers to comfort survivors and to 
     help those who died find happiness and peace in the 
     afterlife.
       Many of the team members are now returning to Hawaii. A 
     smaller group will remain for an undetermined time.
       At a briefing in Hawaii earlier this month, Gen. Montague 
     Winfield, the commander of the unit, said his men and women 
     were prepared to go when they saw the extent of the tsunami 
     devastation.
       Winfield said they had just finished a plan on how to 
     deploy quickly in the event of mass casualties anywhere in 
     the world.
       Still, while the JPAC team members had planned what to take 
     and to get their equipment there in the event of an 
     emergency, ``nobody can adequately or fully prepare for 
     something of this magnitude,'' said Dr. Robert Mann, deputy 
     scientific director at JPAC.
       ``In this situation here, you're going to be dealing with a 
     lot of children, and a lot of people here have kids,'' he 
     said.
       Mann, who was at the same briefing as the general, said the 
     forensic scientists in Hawaii are experts at extracting and 
     using DNA to identify remains. They are also bone and teeth 
     experts.
       Bone structure, Mann explained, can show whether a person 
     is of Caucasian or Asian descent, a man or a woman. Dental 
     records also can help with identification when fingerprints 
     are not available.
       ``Everybody is given a name when you are born, and 
     everybody should have a name when you die,'' Mann said. 
     ``That's what we do.''

  JPAC is a vital part of our Nation's ongoing commitment to its 
service members, and we in Hawaii are proud and humbled by their 
commitment to their mission. This mission on behalf of all of us must 
continue until every last unaccounted American citizen is accounted 
for.

                              {time}  1415

  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher).
  Mr. ROHRABACHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.J. Res. 
18. Today, we recognize the heroism of America's POWs, and we recognize 
the heroism as well of those men and women of our military who rescued 
our POWs in various conflicts.
  We are focusing mainly on the Philippines. And, of course, in the 
Philippines there were so many thousands of Americans that were 
captured by the Japanese and held and who were rescued by Filipino 
Americans, or Filipinos I should say, and by U.S. troops near the close 
of the war.
  Let me note that the Filipinos who fought side by side with us, and 
there were many thousands of Filipinos who were also held as prisoners 
of war during the war with Japan. During those 4 years, those Filipinos 
who fought, those Filipinos as well as those Americans who fought with 
us to liberate the Philippines and rescued our POWs as the war ended, 
were shortchanged. Today, the Filipinos who fought alongside Americans, 
many of those were promised veterans status, and they never received 
the veterans status we promised them when they helped us liberate the 
Philippines. So they were shortchanged.
  Our own POWs were shortchanged. Those Americans held in the 
Philippines have been prevented by our own government from suing the 
Japanese corporations that used them as slave labor during the war. 
This is a horrendous gift to give a POW, like the survivors of the 
Bataan Death March who then were used as slave labor by the Japanese. 
They cannot even be compensated by suing the Japanese.
  And this is not something that happened just in history. American 
POWs from the last Iraq war, who were held prisoner and tortured by 
Iraq, are now being prevented by our government from suing the Iraqis 
who tortured them. We should be on the side, if nobody else, of our 
greatest heroes, America's POWs; but we have shortchanged them at every 
step.

[[Page H668]]

  And what do we say about those who fought in Vietnam, along with some 
of those Vietnamese, those Americans that were captured in Vietnam and 
were not returned after the war and that we abandoned? We know that is 
true. We know a number of them were taken to Russia. We do not even 
know their names. We have not even insisted on their names. As we 
expand our trade now and begin selling things in our stores, we are not 
even demanding that Vietnam please give us the full accounting we 
deserve.
  They have not, for example, given us the records from the prisons in 
which our POWs were kept so we can check to see who was kept in those 
prisons. I have asked for that for 20 years and have never received it. 
Obviously, they are covering something up. But we are letting it slide. 
We are letting it slide.
  We ended up turning against our POWs in the Bataan Death March and 
not letting them sue the Japanese, and we are turning against our POWs 
from the last Iraq war by not letting them sue their torturers. We need 
to start thinking about where our loyalties lie in this country of the 
American heroes. We have a lot to stand up for, because these men and 
these people, the men and women who sacrifice for us, including the 
Filipinos who fought with us in World War II, we owe them a debt of 
gratitude that can never be paid. At the very least, let us be faithful 
to them and give them the kind of recognition and honor they deserve.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman 
from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished 
gentleman from North Carolina for yielding me this time, and for his 
words, as well as those of the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from 
Arizona. Again, this is, I think, a singular moment when there is no 
voice of dissent.
  Might I pay special tribute, of course, to my colleague, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), who has always reminded us in 
this House, as have many others, but in particular, as he hails from my 
State of Texas, the debt of gratitude and the debt of commitment that 
we still continue to owe to those who are missing in action.
  This resolution I want to acknowledge because of a very precise 
statement that it contains, which is very key to what we are doing here 
today. It states we are celebrating the historic commitment of the 
United States ``to the recovery of and full accounting for Americans 
who are prisoners of war or in a missing status.''
  I think more than celebrate, I hope with the passage of this 
legislation that the American people will understand that no brave 
young man or woman, no brave person who has submitted themselves to the 
oath of office to fight for this country on foreign shores, will ever 
become just a footnote in our minds and hearts, but that we will 
continue to press the envelope, we will continue to use all the 
resources, we will continue to wave the flags, we will continue to 
teach our children that they have given the ultimate sacrifice, maybe, 
but that their names still have not been described as having passed in 
battle and, therefore, it is our obligation to continue to search for 
them until we determine their status.
  It gave me great pride to share with former council member Ben Reyes 
the first raising of a POW-MIA flag in front of the city hall in the 
City of Houston. We did that some many years ago. How proud we were to 
stand with veterans from Houston as they watched that flag recognizing 
and commemorating, in just the City of Houston in this Nation, on 
behalf of its children, on behalf of its soldiers that we would never 
stop searching or at least pushing for our MIAs.
  Let me also appreciate the recognition of the 11th Airborne Division, 
particularly the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of that division, 
that were particularly brave as they went behind enemy lines to rescue 
over 2,000 people in an internment camp.
  Let me also acknowledge my constituents who marched on that death 
march some many, many years ago, where they saw some lose their lives 
and some be carried off, not knowing where they might go. Let me 
acknowledge them as well, as this resolution does.
  My final words this afternoon are simply to say that as we celebrate, 
let us make a personal commitment both in terms of resources, a large 
component of defense authorization and appropriations, that there 
should continue to be funding and focus on our POWs and, of course, our 
MIAs. We owe that to the families. We owe it to the American people.
  Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution enthusiastically.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman).
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. 
Franks), and I thank the Members who have been out here this afternoon 
talking about this critical issue and recognizing this resolution.
  I represent the Maupin family in Clermont County, Ohio. Their son, 
Keith Matthew ``Matt'' Maupin, Army Specialist, was captured in Iraq in 
April of last year. We are approaching, therefore, the 1-year 
anniversary. I rise today to pay special honor to Matt Maupin and to 
all our brave servicemen and women who are putting their lives on the 
line for us again on the sands of Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere.
  Specialist Maupin has been missing, as I said, since April 9, 2004. 
His convoy came under attack. He was taken captive. He is still 
missing. He went to Iraq because he believed in the fight. He went to 
Iraq for the freedom of the Iraqi people and to make America and our 
world a safer place. He is truly an American hero.
  In our part of southern Ohio, there has been an outpouring of support 
for Matt; prayers, but also yellow ribbons have cropped up everywhere: 
on cars, on highway overpasses, and at places of business. His father 
is a veteran, Keith Maupin; his brother, Lance Corporal Micah Maupin, 
is a Marine stationed in Miramar, California, currently. Specialist 
Maupin comes from a family that strongly supports the military and 
strongly supports our military families.
  In fact, Matt's family has taken it upon themselves to establish a 
Yellow Ribbon Support Network to support families throughout our part 
of Ohio and, indeed, throughout our country who have their sons and 
daughters in harm's way.
  I again want to thank those who have brought this resolution to the 
floor today, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) and others, for 
their strong support and those of our brave men and women who are 
missing in action. In the case of Matt Maupin, we remember the Army's 
``Soldier's Creed,'' which states: ``. . . I always place the mission 
first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I am a guardian 
of freedom and the American way of life. . . . I am an American 
soldier.'' This is Specialist Matt Maupin.
  We take care of our soldiers. We leave no soldier behind.
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume to thank once again the gentleman from Arizona for bringing 
forth this resolution today calling for a full accounting for Americans 
who are prisoners of war or for those who are missing in action. Our 
speakers, today, on both sides of the aisle, have spoken so eloquently, 
and I thank them so much for their comments. They are great Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume to simply say that I think all of us hold the commitment in our 
hearts and the understanding in our hearts that no greater love hath 
any man than this, than a man who lays down his life for his friends.
  There are so many men and women who have laid down their lives for 
American causes and for the cause of human freedom. This is our day to 
recognize that, and I pray that we never forget them.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. LaTourette). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the joint resolution, H.J. Res. 
18.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the joint resolution was agreed 
to.

[[Page H669]]

  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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