[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H8870-H8873]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING FOR REPATRIATION OF POW/MIAS AND ABDUCTEES FROM KOREAN WAR

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 376) calling for the repatriation of POW/
MIAs and abductees from the Korean War, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 376

       Whereas 61 years have passed since communist North Korea 
     invaded the Republic of Korea, thereby initiating the Korean 
     War on June 25, 1950;
       Whereas during the Korean War, nearly 1.8 million members 
     of the United States Armed Forces served in theater along 
     with the forces of the Republic of Korea and 20 other Allied 
     nations under the United Nations Command to defend freedom 
     and democracy in the Korean Peninsula;
       Whereas 58 years have passed after the signing of the 
     ceasefire agreement at Panmunjom on July 27, 1953, and the 
     peninsula still technically remains in a state of war;
       Whereas talks for a peace treaty began on July 10, 1951, 
     but were prolonged for two years due to disagreement between 
     the United Nations and North Korea regarding the repatriation 
     of prisoners of war (POWs);
       Whereas the repatriation of Korean War POWs did not begin 
     until September 4, 1953, at Freedom Village, Panmunjom;
       Whereas the majority of surviving United Nations POWs were 
     repatriated or turned over to the Neutral Nations 
     Repatriation Commission in accordance with Section 3 of the 
     Armistice Agreement, but the United Nations Command noted a 
     significant discrepancy between the Command's estimate of 
     POWs and the number given by North Korea;
       Whereas the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel 
     Office of the Department of Defense (DPMO) lists more than 
     8,000 members of the United States Armed Forces as POWs or 
     missing in action who are unaccounted for from the Korean 
     War, including an estimated 5,500 in North Korea;
       Whereas many South Korean POWs were never reported as POWs 
     during the negotiations, and it is estimated as many as 
     73,000 South Korean POWs were not repatriated;
       Whereas the Joint Field Activities conducted by the United 
     States between 1996 and 2005 yielded over 220 sets of remains 
     that are still being processed for identification at Joint 
     Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command in 
     Hawaii;
       Whereas the United States recovery operations in North 
     Korea were suspended on May 25, 2005, because of 
     disagreements over communications facilities;
       Whereas North Korea has consistently refused to discuss the 
     POW issue, and the exact number of South Korean POWs who were 
     detained in North Korea after the war is unknown, as is the 
     number of those still alive in North Korea;
       Whereas approximately 100,000 South Korean civilians 
     (political leaders, public employees, lawyers, journalists, 
     scholars, farmers, etc.) were forcibly abducted by the North 
     Korean Army during the Korean War, but North Korea has 
     neither admitted the abductions occurred nor accounted for or 
     repatriated the civilians;
       Whereas many young South Korean men were forcibly 
     conscripted into the North Korean Army during the Korean War;
       Whereas North Korea's abduction of South Korean civilians 
     was carried out under a well-planned scheme to make up the 
     shortage of North Korea's own needed manpower, and to 
     communize South Korea;
       Whereas during the Korean War Armistice Commission 
     Conference, the United Nations Command, led by the United 
     States, negotiated strongly to seek that South Korean 
     civilians abducted by North Korea be exchanged for Communist 
     POWs held by the United Nations;
       Whereas North Korea persistently delayed in POW/civilian 
     internee negotiations, refusing to acknowledge that they had 
     committed a war crime of civilian abduction, with a result 
     that in the armistice talks Korean War abductees were re-
     classified ``displaced persons'' and, consequently, not a 
     single person among them has been able to return home;
       Whereas the South Korean families of the civilians abducted 
     by North Korea six decades ago have endured extreme pain and 
     suffering due to the prolonged separation and due to the 
     knowledge that North Korea has neither admitted that the 
     abductions occurred nor accounted for or repatriated these 
     civilians;
       Whereas former South Korean POWs and abductees who escaped 
     from North Korea have provided valuable and credible 
     information on sightings of American and South Korean POWs in 
     concentration camps;
       Whereas tens of thousands of friends and families of the 
     POW/MIAs and abductees from the Korean War, including the 
     National Alliance of POW/MIA Families, POW/MIA Freedom 
     Fighters, the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/
     MIAs, the International Korean War Memorial Foundation POW 
     Affairs Committee, Rolling Thunder, Inc., the Korean War 
     Abductees Family Union, the Korea National Red Cross, World 
     Veterans Federation, and the National Assembly of Republic of 
     Korea, have called for full accounting of the POW/MIAs and 
     abductees by North Korea; and
       Whereas July 27, 2011, is the National Korean War Veterans 
     Armistice Day, which is a day of remembrance and recognition 
     of Korean War veterans and those persons who never returned 
     home from the Korean War: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) recognizes that there are South Korean prisoners of war 
     (POWs) and civilian abductees from the Korean War who are 
     still alive in North Korea and want to be repatriated;
       (2) takes note of the U.S.-North Korean agreement of 
     October 20, 2011, on resuming operations to search for and 
     recover remains of American POW/MIAs and calls upon the 
     United States Government to continue to explore the 
     possibility that there could be American POW/MIAs still alive 
     inside North Korea;
       (3) recommends that the United States and South Korean 
     Governments jointly investigate reports of sightings of 
     American POW/MIAs;
       (4) encourages North Korea to repatriate any American and 
     South Korean POWs to their home countries to reunite with 
     their families under the International Humanitarian Law set 
     forth in the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of 
     Prisoners of War;
       (5) calls upon North Korea to admit to the abduction of 
     more than 100,000 South Korean civilians and reveal the 
     status of the abductees; and
       (6) calls upon North Korea to agree to the family reunions 
     and immediate repatriation

[[Page H8871]]

     of the abductees under the International Humanitarian Law set 
     forth in the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of 
     Civilian Persons in Time of War.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Berman) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 
legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous materials on this resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I am so pleased to rise in strong support of House Resolution 376, 
calling for the repatriation of POWs, MIAs, and abductees from the 
Korean War. It is fitting that this resolution was introduced by one of 
the House's own Korean war vets, Congressman Charlie Rangel. He hasn't 
had a bad day since.
  Mr. Rangel received a Purple Heart for the wounds he received in 
fighting his way out of an ambush by Chinese forces in subzero 
temperatures in the early months of the Korean War. Mr. Rangel also 
received a Bronze Star for his valor.
  Mr. Rangel shares this with Members Sam Johnson, Howard Coble, and 
John Conyers, Korean veterans all, a personal knowledge of how crucial 
this resolution is in addressing unresolved issues from that long ago 
conflict.
  Another person who understands the critical importance of this 
resolution is the President of the Korean War Abductees Families Union, 
who flew almost halfway across the globe from Seoul, Korea to be here 
and witness the consideration of this resolution on the House floor. 
Ms. Lee was a mere 18-month-old baby when her father was taken away by 
the North Koreans, not to be seen again for the past 6 decades.
  Mr. Speaker, General MacArthur, returning from the Korean front in 
1951, famously told the U.S. Congress and the American people that 
``old soldiers never die, they just fade away.'' How sadly ironic that 
some of the old soldiers of the Korean conflict in which General 
MacArthur served have indeed faded away into a North Korean gulag.
  But through this resolution, we clearly demonstrate that these old 
soldiers will not be allowed to just fade away into the fog of war. 
This resolution reminds us that 8,000 Americans missing in action in 
Korea remain unaccounted for, and that an estimated 73,000 South Korean 
POWs were not repatriated and were held in North Korea against their 
will.
  In addition, approximately 100,000 South Korean citizens were 
forcibly abducted by North Korea during the Korean conflict.
  The recent U.S.-North Korea agreement to resume the search for the 
remains of an estimated 5,500 U.S. soldiers lost inside North Korea is 
welcomed by American families, those who have endured 60 years of 
unresolved grief over the loss of their loved ones.
  It is our hope that the procedures for payment of the cost of the MIA 
recovery by our Department of Defense are more transparent than the 
delivery of suitcases full of dollars to North Korean generals, as was 
done in the past.
  We have also the highest respect for the Joint Prisoners of War, 
Missing in Action Accounting Command in Hawaii, which processes our 
soldiers' remains once they make that final journey home from Korea. I 
am certain that those who seek to identify remains are aware of Ronald 
Reagan's famous adage, ``trust, but verify.''
  And this applies doubly to North Korea. Let us not forget that only a 
few years ago, Pyongyang provided our Japanese allies with the 
purported remains of a 13-year old schoolgirl abducted to North Korea 
many years before, which turned out to be bogus.
  We do not want to see any of our POW/MIA families so cruelly tricked 
by North Korea. Pyongyang must come clean on its past armistice 
violations and war crimes by returning any remaining POW and MIA 
remains and abductees to their waiting loved ones.
  By adopting this important resolution, the House will not only 
recognize the valor of those who served during the Korean War, like Mr. 
Rangel before us, but will honor those who serve today on the Cold 
War's last frontier along the DMZ.
  I strongly urge all of my colleagues to support this important 
resolution, and I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  I am pleased to rise in strong support of House Resolution 376, 
``Calling for the repatriation of POW/MIAs and abductees from the 
Korean War.''
  It is fitting that this resolution was introduced by one of the 
House's own Korean War veterans, Congressman Charles Rangel.
  Mr. Rangel received a purple heart for the wounds he received in 
fighting his way out of a ambush by Chinese forces in subzero 
temperatures in the early months of the Korean War.
  Mr. Rangel also received a bronze star for his valor.
  Mr. Rangel shares with Members Sam Johnson, Howard Coble, and John 
Conyers, Korean War veterans all, a personal knowledge of how crucial 
this resolution is in addressing unresolved issues from that long-ago 
conflict. Another person who understands the critical importance of 
this resolution is Miss Lee Mi-il, President of the Korean War Abductee 
Families Union, who flew almost halfway across the globe from Seoul, 
Korea to be here and witness the consideration of this resolution on 
the House Floor.
  Miss Lee has spent the last decade working on the abduction issue as 
chronicled in a recent New York Times article.
  She was a mere eighteen month-old baby when her father was taken away 
by the North Koreans, not to be seen again for the past six decades.
  Miss Lee's 89 year-old mother is still waiting at the family home for 
the return of her long-missing husband.
  As the North Korean famine in the mid-nineties led to a breakdown of 
control both inside North Korea and along the Chinese border, the world 
was shocked by the sudden emergence of a number of old men who wandered 
into China.
  These were old South Korean soldiers, allies of the United States, 
held secretly and against their wills for decades, in violation of the 
Armistice, as virtual slaves in North Korean coal mines.
  General MacArthur, returning from the Korean front in 1951 famously 
told the U.S. Congress and the American people that ``old soldiers 
never die, they just fade away.''
  How sadly ironic that some of the old soldiers of that Korean 
conflict in which General MacArthur served have indeed faded away--into 
a North Korean gulag.
  And so they became the forgotten old soldiers of that conflict long 
labeled ``the forgotten war.''
  We must be completely assured by the continued efforts of our 
government and our allies that there is not one old American soldier 
among these South Korean POWs still captive bound in the North Korean 
gulag!
  By this resolution we clearly demonstrate that these old soldiers 
will not be allowed to just fade away into the fog of war.
  This resolution reminds us that 8,000 American MIAs from Korea remain 
unaccounted for and that an estimated 73,000 South Korean POWs were not 
repatriated and were held in North Korea against their wills.
  In addition, approximately one hundred thousand South Korean citizens 
were forcibly abducted by North Korea during the Korean conflict.
  This forced wartime abduction of civilians by North Korea represents 
a crime for which Pyongyang must both accept responsibility and make 
restitution, including providing for the safe return of all surviving 
victims to their homes.
  The recent U.S.-North Korea agreement to resume the search for the 
remains of an estimated 5,500 U.S. soldiers lost inside North Korea is 
welcomed by the American families who have endured sixty years of 
unresolved grief over the loss of their loved ones.
  It is our hope that the procedures for payment of the costs of MIA 
recovery by our Department of Defense are more transparent than the 
delivery of suitcases full of dollars to North Korean generals as was 
done in the past.
  We also have the highest respect for the Joint Prisoners of War, 
Missing in Action Accounting Command in Hawaii which processes our 
soldiers' remains once they make the final journey home from Korea.
  I am certain that those who seek to identify remains are aware of 
Ronald Reagan's famous adage ``trust but verify.''
  This applies doubly to North Korea.
  Let us not forget that only a few years ago Pyongyang provided our 
Japanese allies with the purported remains of a thirteen year-old 
school girl abducted to North Korea many years before.

[[Page H8872]]

  This girl's family faced the additional pain of being victimized by 
North Korea a second time when Japanese forensic experts concluded that 
those remains were bogus.
  We do not want to see any of our POW/MIA families so cruelly tricked 
by North Korea!
  Pyongyang must come clean on its past Armistice violations and war 
crimes by returning any remaining POWs, MIA remains and abductees to 
their waiting loved ones!
  By adopting this resolution, the House will not only recognize the 
valor of those who served during the Korean War but will honor those 
who serve today on the Cold War's last frontier along the DMZ.
  I strongly urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 
376, calling for the repatriation of POWs, MIAs, and abductees from the 
Korean War.
  I am going to yield 5 minutes to the sponsor of this legislation, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel), himself a Korean War veteran, as 
our chairman has mentioned, to open the debate on this issue.
  (Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)

                              {time}  2150

  Mr. RANGEL. Let me thank so much for the sensitivity and support that 
the gentlelady from Florida and chairman of this committee, for the 
strong support and the friendship that you've extended not only to me 
but to the people that you have felt their pain even though the 
hostilities are over, and the courtesy that Ranking Member Berman has 
given in allowing me to open the discussion on this important debate.
  As most of you know, in 1950 the Communist North Koreans invaded 
South Korea, crossing a line that Russia and the United States had 
settled in what they called the 38th Parallel. Well, you can separate a 
geographic area, but you cannot separate a people that have the same 
background, the same language, and the same culture.
  Nor can you engage in a war and insist that you are not going to 
abide by the international obligations that even in those types of 
hostilities most nations abide by. We have had close to 2 million 
American soldiers, men and women, in Korea with allies and friends in 
the United Nations to stop this hostile communist unwarranted takeover 
of South Korea. In that war over 50,000 Americans were killed; double 
that number were wounded; and we had thousands of people that were just 
taken as prisoners of war, or they were missing in action.
  There was a time that the regime in North Korea was helping the State 
Department and the United States in finding where these bodies are 
located and with some success. When you lose a loved one, at some point 
in time it has to come to closure, and when you know that the people 
could have these bodies and for evil intent not respond to the basic 
human needs of those who suffered so much, it seems to me that this 
Congress and the executive branch should insist that a part of our 
priorities in dealing with North Korea is that they allow and cooperate 
with us in finding the remains of those people who fought for this 
great country and because their families and their friends have 
suffered so much pain.
  As it relates to the South Koreans, they even sacrificed more lives. 
They were not hostile. They were not bothering anybody when this 
hostility came to such an extent that the whole world, almost, 
condemned it. And of course the Second Infantry Division that I served 
in in 1950 was the first to lead the United States and face the enemy 
and joining with our allies we were able to drive them to the North 
Korean border with China.
  As most of you know, the Chinese entered with hundreds of thousands 
of people, tens of thousands of volunteers, and we found that many 
lives were lost.
  In the course of this, South Koreans that were not in North Korea, 
they were in the northern part of their country. South Koreans that 
were captured, South Koreans that fought, South Koreans that were 
professors, workmen and what-not, were captured, held hostage and the 
worst of all, separated from their families and friends.
  As I said, you can politically separate a country. You can draw an 
imaginary line on the map, but the truth of the matter is that the 
South Koreans have suffered long enough. They have really become our 
friends. They have become the sentinel of democracy in this part of the 
world. They have become one of our strongest trading partners, and we 
never have to ask them for help. They're always there.
  When Korea is in trouble, we will be there for them; when America is 
in trouble, we don't have to call on South Korea.
  So I want to thank the committee members and this Congress and this 
Nation not to forget our friends, and especially not to forgot those 
who still mourn those who gave up their lives for their great 
countries, both for South Korea and for the United States of America. 
And we hope that through this effort, the State Department will resume 
looking for the Americans who put themselves in harm's way and their 
families have no knowledge where they are.
  We would like to thank Ms. Lee and all of the people who have come 
here to convince us that these families have to be reunited, and 
America will see that it is done. I thank you for the courtesy.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise in strong support of House Resolution 376, calling for the 
repatriation of POWs, MIAs, and abductees from the Korean War, and I 
yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  I'd like to thank the sponsor of this legislation, the gentleman from 
New York, Mr. Rangel--himself a Korean War veteran--and the Chairman of 
the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their leadership 
on this issue.
  This resolution calls attention to one of the most tragic issues 
still lingering from the Korean War: the fate of soldiers taken 
prisoner during the war and missing in action, and civilian South 
Korean citizens abducted by North Korea.
  The Defense Department lists almost 8,000 American service members 
from the Korean War who remain unaccounted for to this day. In my home 
state of California, there are 614 individuals whose final status is 
unknown.
  For the families of those American POWs or MIAs, they must carry on 
their lives without the benefit of having final closure or peace.
  Between 1996 and 2005, the Defense Department conducted joint field 
activities in both South and North Korea that resulted in the recovery 
of over 220 sets of remains. Recovery operations in North Korea were 
suspended in 2005, but recently this past October, the United States 
and North Korea agreed to resume operations next year to search for and 
recover the remains of American POWs and MIAs.
  This resolution shows our solidarity with our troops who were 
captured or went missing during the Korean War, and affirms that we 
will never forget our duty to bring them home.
  A second element of this resolution takes note of South Korean POWs 
and civilian abductees from the Korean War.
  The exact number of South Korean POWs held in North Korea after the 
war is unknown, but it is estimated that as many as 73,000 South Korean 
prisoners were not repatriated to the South following the war. Some of 
them may still be alive in North Korea.
  North Korea also abducted tens of thousands of South Korean 
civilians, mainly civil servants, teachers, writers, judges, and 
business people during the war. North Korea has continued to deny that 
it abducted these civilians and that any of them may still exist, 
despite testimony proving otherwise.
  With this resolution, the House of Representatives formally 
recognizes the existence of South Korean POWs and civilian abductees 
from the Korean War who may still be alive in North Korea and want to 
return to their families in the South.
  We call on North Korea to admit to abducting the thousands of South 
Korean civilians and reveal their status. The North also should allow 
family reunions and immediate repatriation of the abductees under the 
Geneva Convention.
  The United States stands with the people of South Korea in 
remembering these abductees from the Korean War. We must not forget 
their plight, and we will continue working for their reunification with 
their families, still scarred by the lingering pain and tragedy of war.
  I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, for our closing speaker, I am pleased 
to recognize for such time as he may consume my good friend from 
California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs 
Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade and a cosponsor 
of this important resolution.

[[Page H8873]]

  Mr. ROYCE. I rise in support of this resolution.
  Several of our colleagues--Sam Johnson, Howard Coble, John Conyers, 
and its author Charlie Rangel--bravely fought in this war and deserve 
our recognition tonight. Even if he hasn't had a bad day since, they 
deserve our recognition.
  Mr. Speaker, the Korean War as we often know is called the Forgotten 
War, but those who fought it and our South Korean allies haven't 
forgotten this war. And by moving this legislation forward tonight, 
we're signaling that the House has not forgotten this war. And as much 
as anything, I believe this resolution demonstrates the shared 
commitment, the shared sacrifice that serves as the foundation of that 
U.S.-South Korea alliance.
  We've all seen lots change in those six decades since our colleagues 
fought in that war; but with U.S. support, South Korea has transformed 
into a modern leading economy in the world today, but you still go 
north of that 38th Parallel--I've been north of that 38th Parallel--and 
they still live literally in darkness.
  It's been more than 60 years since the start of the Korean war; and 
after all of that time, our Department of Defense lists more than 8,000 
American servicemen as POWs who are missing in action. The number of 
South Koreans is estimated to be many times that because as many as 
100,000 South Koreans were forcibly conscripted into the North Korean 
Army.
  For our veterans and for their families, it is well past time for a 
full accounting which is what this resolution calls for.
  Indeed, as this resolution states, there are still South Korean 
prisoners of war and civilian abductees from the Korean war who are 
still alive in North Korea and want to be repatriated back to the 
South.
  For the sake of those impacted, I urge passage of this resolution.
  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 
376. H. Res. 376 was authored, introduced and sponsored by a true 
American hero--my good friend, the Honorable Charles Rangel--and I am 
proud to be an original cosponsor.
  H. Res. 376 calls for the repatriation of POW/MIAS and abductees from 
the Korean War, and I know this legislation is near and dear to 
Congressman Rangel's heart, as was the Resolution he introduced last 
year to recognize the 60th anniversary of the Korean War. Last year's 
Resolution, which was passed by Congress and signed by the President, 
should have born Charlie Rangel's name, but due to back and forth 
between the House and Senate he did not receive the credit he deserved. 
I stand to credit him now.
  In a black unit led mostly by white officers, acting Sergeant Charles 
Rangel was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his heroic 
service in the Korean War, having led his comrades from behind enemy 
lines in circumstances few of us have ever known. I commend the 
Honorable Charles Rangel for his valor, sacrifice and courage.
  I also thank the Korean American community in Los Angeles and New 
York, and especially Mr. Dongsuk Kim, founder and former President of 
the Korean American Voters' Council; Mr. Mi-il Lee, President of the 
Korean War Abductees' Family Union (KWAFU); and Dr. Hong-Sik Shin for 
their tireless efforts in support of this Resolution. Their leadership 
in pushing this forward is the reason why I believe this historic 
Resolution will pass the House today.
  On behalf of all those who served and sacrificed, I urge my 
colleagues to vote in favor of H. Res. 376.
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, and I thank 
the gentleman from New York, Representative Rangel, for offering it.
  Every year for decades, the Congress has appropriated millions of 
dollars for the Pentagon to go around the world and recover the remains 
of our fallen. Those involved in the effort know that theirs is a 
solemn and vital mission, one that everyone who serves in this House 
strongly supports. It makes one proud to be an American knowing that we 
will go to great lengths to leave no soldier behind.
  Unfortunately, this laudable effort to recover the remains of those 
long deceased has not been matched by the same level of care and 
concern at the Dover Port Mortuary in recent years. I know the truth of 
this through a courageous constituent of mine, Lynn Smith of 
Frenchtown, New Jersey. Lynn's late husband, Sergeant First Class Scott 
Smith, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Iraq in 2006.
  More than a year after Scott's body was returned home to her and his 
parents, Lynn discovered that additional remains were subsequently 
recovered--then incinerated, mixed with medical waste, and dumped in a 
landfill in King George County, Virginia. As Lynn suspected, and as we 
now know, that practice was performed on the unclaimed additional 
remains of at least 273 other servicemembers. There were a number of 
other incidents of desecration or mishandling of remains that took 
place at Dover that were subsequently exposed by three Dover employees, 
who took the dangerous step of becoming whistleblowers and reporting 
their allegations to the Office of Special Counsel. Make no mistake--
those whistleblowers are true public servants, and I thank them.
  I have made it clear to Air Force officials that they must never 
allow this kind of outrage to happen again, and that those who 
retaliated against the whistleblowers should be dismissed from 
government service. If we can get our MIA recovery and identification 
process right, the same high standards must apply at Dover.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for offering this 
bill and I urge its swift passage.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 376, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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