[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 135 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S11723]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRADE RELATIONS TO VIETNAM

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, in relation to the extension of 
permanent trade relations to Vietnam that the Senate is in the process 
of considering this evening, there is a finding in the bill that I want 
to call to the Senate's attention. The finding notes that, ``Vietnam 
has taken cooperative steps with the United States under the United 
States Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, formerly the Joint Task Force-
Full Accounting, established in 1992 by President George H. W. Bush to 
provide the fullest possible accounting of MIA and POW cases.''
  I serve as the cochairman of the U.S./Russia Joint Commission on POW/
MIAs, and also have several close friends who have family members who 
are POW/MIAs and continue to search for their family members and for 
information that will bring them closure regarding their fate.
  I think we can all agree that Vietnam has in fact taken cooperative 
steps along the lines of POW/MIA accounting with the United States. 
However, I think we can also all agree that Vietnam needs to take 
additional steps in this area. Specifically, I believe there are 
additional steps that Vietnam can take in providing the United States 
access to archives regarding POW/MIA cases in Laos and Cambodia. Cases 
of US service members lost in Laos and Cambodia are particularly 
difficult to resolve due to the difficulty of access to both archival 
information and the actual locations where service members are 
presumably missing. This is a specific area in which I hope that 
Vietnam can provide additional information and assistance to help the 
United States obtain the fullest possible accounting of POW/MIAs from 
the Vietnam war.
  I want it to be clear that there is more work to be done on this 
issue and that we need to continue to conduct research, site visits and 
work closely with Vietnam, as well as their neighbors on this issue 
until we have accounted for every one of our POW/MIAs in Vietnam as 
well as other countries.

                          ____________________