[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Pages 17750-17752]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



  AUTHORIZING RELEASE OF RECORDS ON MISSING PERSONS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 172) to authorize and direct the Archivist of the 
United States to make available for public use the records of the House 
of Representatives Select Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast 
Asia.
  The Clerk read as follows:


[[Page 17751]]

                              H. Res. 172

       Resolved, That the Archivist of the United States is 
     authorized and directed to make available for public use the 
     records of the House of Representatives Select Committee on 
     Missing Persons in Southeast Asia (94th Congress).

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Thomas) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas).
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, the question of a final resolution on military and, 
indeed, even civilian personnel in Southeast Asia, principally in 
Vietnam, has been one that this country has wrestled with for some 
time.
  The gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) was a member of the Select 
Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia during that Select 
Committee's existence in the 1970s. That particular committee was 
dissolved in the 94th Congress, and portions of its records, including 
20 executive sessions, were, according to the appropriate procedures at 
the time, sealed for 50 years. Less sensitive records were sealed for 
30 years.
  As a member of the Committee on Ways and Means and the Subcommittee 
on Trade, it was my pleasure a few years ago to travel with then 
subcommittee Chairman Sam Gibbons on the first official congressional 
visit to Vietnam prior to our recognition of that country. We spent 2 
days in Hawaii being briefed on the extensive, laborious, scientific 
pursuit of all leads in terms of missing in action and prisoners of 
war. We also carried on a number of discussions with Vietnamese 
officials and with individuals in the private sector, indeed loved ones 
who had sons, daughters, husbands, missing in that war.
  It just seems appropriate, according to H. Res. 172, that the 
conditions in which we now relate to the country of Vietnam, as it 
pertains to records that were sealed, would only make it more difficult 
to conclude once and for all the question of prisoners of war and 
missing in action. In fact, opening up reports so that any number of 
people can examine and find leads they find most appropriate, 
especially the ability to move into the country and talk to 
individuals, would maximize the opportunity for closing this particular 
chapter in America's history.
  For that reason, and especially since the Senate has already taken 
similar action, I would urge all Members to support H. Res. 172.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to join the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman), 
the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), and others who cosponsored 
this resolution and the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), the 
chairman of the House Committee on Administration, in support of House 
Resolution 172.

                              {time}  1430

  This action, hopefully, will help both historians, researchers and, 
most of all, loved ones of missing American servicemen in Southeast 
Asia; and we should strive, when at all possible, for a policy of 
openness with respect to the records of loved ones who fought overseas 
on behalf of our country.
  Simply put, this resolution would declassify the records of the House 
Select Committee on Missing Persons. It would authorize and direct the 
archivist of the United States to make these records available to the 
public.
  In the 1970s, Mr. Speaker, the Select Committee investigated and 
tried to determine whether American servicemen had, in fact, been left 
behind in Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War. As has been explained, 
House rules mandated when the Select Committee was dissolved that its 
records be kept secret for 50 years. Similar rules governed the records 
of the Senate Select Committee that studied the same issue.
  However, several years ago, Mr. Speaker, the Senate agreed to reduce 
the period of secrecy to 20 years and, thus, directed all its committee 
files be declassified. We should do the same thing, and we should do it 
for two principle reasons:
  First, the families and loved ones of missing servicemen in Southeast 
Asia deserve and ought to know what the House Select Committee 
uncovered, and they should not have to wait even another day. These 
families should not have to fight their government on the release of 
these files, particularly since many of their loved ones fought so 
valiantly, so bravely, on behalf of our government, our people, and our 
commitment to democracy.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I believe that secrecy only fuels suspicion. 
While there are, of course, secrets the government must keep for 
national security reasons, this is not the case in this instance. As 
the Senate Select Committee stated in its final report, and I quote, 
``Nothing has done more to fuel suspicion about the government's 
handling of the POW-MIA issue than the fact that so many documents 
related to those efforts have remained classified for so long.''
  Mr. Speaker, today we have an opportunity to end that suspicion, and 
we certainly should do it. I commend the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Gilman) and the gentleman from Mississippi (Mr. Taylor), the gentleman 
from Missouri (Mr. Talent), and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Rohrabacher), who introduced this resolution, and I am pleased to rise 
on behalf of its immediate passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Gilman), the principal sponsor of H. Res. 172, the chairman 
of the Committee on International Relations.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time, and I am pleased to rise today in support of H. Res. 172, a 
measure designed to declassify the records of the House Select 
Committee on Missing Persons in Southeast Asia.
  I want to thank the chairman of the Committee on House 
Administration, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas), as well as 
the ranking minority member, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), 
for allowing this bill to be brought to the floor under suspension of 
the rules in this timely manner.
  I helped to create and served as a member of the Select Committee on 
Missing Persons in Southeast Asia during the 94th Congress. At that 
time the Select Committee was tasked with the responsibility of 
determining whether American servicemen had been left behind in 
Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War.
  When the Select Committee was dissolved, after completing its work, 
some 35 boxes of material were sent over to the National Archives and 
Records Administration. Of that total, 11 boxes contained classified 
information. This material was subject to House classification rules, 
which mandated that the material be kept classified for a period of 50 
years.
  Earlier this decade, the Senate Committee on POW and MIA Affairs 
declassified all of its files on this issue, making them open to both 
the families and to researchers. This legislation simply allows the 
House to follow suit by making a change in House rules and opening all 
of the Select Committee's files and boxes of material to the public.
  In approving this measure for suspension, the committee staff 
expressed some concern that privacy rights might be compromised if the 
files were declassified. They were subsequently assured by the 
archivist that any cases where privacy is a concern, such as an 
individual who testified on conditions of anonymity, would be honored 
and such files would not be made public.
  Mr. Speaker, the end of the Cold War has resulted in the discovery of 
literally hundreds of documents which had previously been out of reach 
behind the Iron Curtain. I see no need for the House to maintain a veil 
of secrecy over its Select Committee files, especially when such 
information may provide some insight into the fate of some of the more 
than 2,000 service members

[[Page 17752]]

who still remain unaccounted for from the Vietnam conflict.
  Accordingly, I ask my colleagues to join in supporting this worthy 
legislation which would bring the House rules on this subject in accord 
with those of our counterpart committee in the Senate.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time, once again thanking the gentleman 
from New York for this resolution.
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time, adding that the gentleman from 
Mississippi (Mr. Taylor) asked me to make his comments known and his 
expressions of appreciation to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Gilman) 
and others for their leadership on this, and he joins us very strongly 
in supporting this legislation.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pease). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, House Resolution 172.
  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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