[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15504-15505]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                     IRAQ'S FAILURE TO RELEASE POWS

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 658, S. Con. 
Res. 124.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 124) expressing the 
     sense of the Congress with regard to Iraq's failure to 
     release prisoners of war from Kuwait and nine other nations 
     in violation of the international agreements.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.


             Amendments Nos. 3941, 3942, and 3943, en bloc

  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I send a group of amendments to the desk, 
en bloc, and ask for their immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Montana [Mr. Burns], for Mr. Smith, 
     proposes amendments numbered 3941, 3942 and 3943, en bloc.

  The amendments are as follows:


                           Amendment No. 3941

       On page 3, between lines 3 and 4, insert the following:
       (A) demands that the Government of Iraq immediately provide 
     the fullest possible accounting for United States Navy 
     Commander Michael Scott Speicher in compliance with United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 686 and other applicable 
     international law;
       On page 3, line 4, strike ``(A)'' and insert ``(B)''.
       On page 3, line 8, strike ``(B)'' and insert ``(C)''.
       On page 4, line 3, strike ``(C)'' and insert ``(D)''.
       On page 4, line 8, strike ``(D)'' and insert ``(E)''.
       On page 4, between lines 14 and 15, insert the following:
       (A) actively seek the fullest possible accounting for 
     United States Navy Commander Michael Scott Speicher;
       On page 4, line 15, strike ``(A)'' and insert ``(B)''.
       On page 4, line 22, strike ``(B)'' and insert ``(C)''.
                                  ____



                           AMENDMENT NO. 3942

       Insert immediately after the title the following:
       ``Whereas the Government of Iraq has not provided the 
     fullest possible accounting for United States Navy Commander 
     Michael Scott Speicher, who was shot down over Iraq on 
     January 16, 1991, during Operation Desert Storm;''
                                  ____



                           AMENDMENT NO. 3943

       Amend the title to read as follows: ``Expressing the sense 
     of Congress with regard to Iraq's failure to provide the 
     fullest possible accounting of United States Navy Commander 
     Michael Scott Speicher and prisoners of war from Kuwait and 
     nine other nations in violation of international 
     agreements.''.
  Mr. BURNS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendments 
be agreed to, that the resolution be agreed to, as amended, the 
preamble be agreed to, as amended, the title, as amended, be agreed to, 
the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and the statements 
relating to the resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendments (Nos. 3941, 3942 and 3943) were agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 124), as amended, was agreed 
to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title was amended.
  The concurrent resolution, as amended, with its preamble, as amended, 
reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 124

       Whereas the Government of Iraq has not provided the fullest 
     possible accounting for

[[Page 15505]]

     United States Navy Commander Michael Scott Speicher, who was 
     shot down over Iraq on January 16, 1991, during Operation 
     Desert Storm;
       Whereas in 1990 and 1991, thousands of Kuwaitis were 
     randomly arrested on the streets of Kuwait during the Iraqi 
     occupation;
       Whereas in February 1993, the Government of Kuwait compiled 
     evidence documenting the existence of 605 prisoners of war 
     and submitted its files to the International Committee of the 
     Red Cross (ICRC), which passed those files on to Iraq, the 
     United Nations, and the Arab League;
       Whereas numerous testimonials exist from family members who 
     witnessed the arrest and forcible removal of their relatives 
     by Iraqi armed forces during the occupation;
       Whereas eyewitness reports from released prisoners of war 
     indicate that many of those who are still missing were seen 
     and contacted in Iraqi prisons;
       Whereas official Iraqi documents left behind in Kuwait 
     chronicle in detail the arrest, imprisonment, and transfer of 
     significant numbers of Kuwaitis, including those who are 
     still missing;
       Whereas in 1991, the United Nations Security Council 
     overwhelmingly passed Security Council Resolutions 686 and 
     687 that were part of the broad cease-fire agreement accepted 
     by the Iraqi regime;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 686 
     calls upon Iraq to arrange for immediate access to and 
     release of all prisoners of war under the auspices of the 
     ICRC and to return the remains of the deceased personnel of 
     the forces of Kuwait and the Member States cooperating with 
     Kuwait;
       Whereas United Nations Security Resolution 687 calls upon 
     Iraq to cooperate with the ICRC in the repatriation of all 
     Kuwaiti and third-country nationals, to provide the ICRC with 
     access to the prisoners wherever they are located or 
     detained, and to facilitate the ICRC search for those 
     unaccounted for;
       Whereas the Government of Kuwait, in accordance with United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 686, immediately released 
     all Iraqi prisoners of war as required by the terms of the 
     Geneva Convention;
       Whereas immediately following the cease-fire in March 1991, 
     Iraq repatriated 5,722 Kuwaiti prisoners of war under the 
     aegis of the ICRC and freed 500 Kuwaitis held by rebels in 
     southern Iraq;
       Whereas Iraq has hindered and blocked efforts of the 
     Tripartite Commission, the eight-country commission chaired 
     by the ICRC and responsible for locating and securing the 
     release of the remaining prisoners of war;
       Whereas Iraq has denied the ICRC access to Iraqi prisons in 
     violation of Article 126 of the Third Geneva Convention, to 
     which Iraq is a signatory; and
       Whereas Iraq--under the direction and control of Saddam 
     Hussein--has failed to locate and secure the return of all 
     prisoners of war being held in Iraq, including prisoners from 
     Kuwait and nine other nations: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) the Congress--
       (A) demands that the Government of Iraq immediately provide 
     the fullest possible accounting for United States Navy 
     Commander Michael Scott Speicher in compliance with United 
     Nations Security Council Resolution 686 and other applicable 
     international law;
       (B) acknowledges that there remain 605 prisoners of war 
     unaccounted for in Iraq, although Kuwait was liberated from 
     Iraq's brutal invasion and occupation on February 26, 1991;
       (C) condemns and denounces the Iraqi Government's refusal 
     to comply with international human rights instruments to 
     which it is a party;
       (D) urges Iraq immediately to disclose the names and 
     whereabouts of those who are still alive among the Kuwaiti 
     prisoners of war and other nations to bring relief to their 
     families; and
       (E) insists that Iraq immediately allow humanitarian 
     organizations such as the International Committee of the Red 
     Cross to visit the living prisoners and to recover the 
     remains of those who have died while in captivity; and
       (2) it is the sense of the Congress that the United States 
     Government should--
       (A) actively seek the fullest possible accounting for 
     United States Navy Commander Michael Scott Speicher;
       (B) actively and urgently work with the international 
     community and the Government of Kuwait, in accordance with 
     United Nations Security Council Resolutions 686 and 687, to 
     secure the release of Kuwaiti prisoners of war and other 
     prisoners of war who are still missing nine years after the 
     end of the Gulf War; and
       (C) exert pressure, as a permanent member of the United 
     Nations Security Council, on Iraq to bring this issue to a 
     close, to release all remaining prisoners of the Iraqi 
     occupation of Kuwait, and to rejoin the community of nations 
     with a humane gesture of good will and decency.

                          ____________________