[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13341]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          EX-PRISONERS OF WAR NOT RECEIVING JUST COMPENSATION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Strickland) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about yet one more 
example of how the Bush administration seems to put the needs of Iraq 
and Iraqis over the needs of America and Americans.
  We all know that during the first Gulf War there were a significant 
number of American soldiers who were taken prisoner of war. Under the 
law passed by this House, we have given permission for those who have 
been tortured to take legal action against a terrorist state that was 
responsible for that torture. So 17 American prisoners of war, who were 
prisoner during the time of Saddam Hussein's regime, brought legal 
action; and the courts determined that they were, in fact, entitled to 
just compensation and granted them compensation.
  Then the Bush administration spent tax dollars to fight that 
decision, took it to a higher court, and had that decision overturned.
  Now, these prisoners of war were not seeking money from America. They 
were seeking money from the Iraqi regime that had tortured them. What 
kind of torture did they experience? They described being tortured with 
electric shocks, being threatened with castration, being threatened 
with execution, being beaten so severely that their bones were broken 
and that they were permanently disabled as a result of those beatings.
  This country had frozen over $1 billion in Iraqi assets that would 
have been used to pay these ex-prisoners of war just compensation, but 
the Bush administration said this money is needed for the 
reconstruction of Iraq. That is more important than compensating the 
American POWs; and so the Bush administration has returned that money 
back to Iraq, and our American ex-POWs have been told that there is 
nothing for them.
  This is even more egregious when we consider what Secretary Rumsfeld 
has recently said. He said that he believes the Iraqi prisoners who 
were tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison, the very same prison where the 
Americans were tortured, Secretary Rumsfeld believes that this country 
should, in fact, compensate them because they were tortured.
  So here is what we have. American POWs having been tortured in Iraq 
and told by the Bush administration they are entitled to no 
compensation. The Iraqi prisoners were tortured in this very same 
prison, and our Secretary of Defense is saying American tax dollars 
should be used to compensate them.
  One of the newspapers in my region had a story that went like this: 
it was the United States of America and Saddam Hussein versus American 
ex-POWs, and the United States and Saddam Hussein won.
  The Senate had taken action. Unanimously the Senate voted last week 
to approve an amendment submitted by Senator Reid, cosponsored by 
Senator Warner and Senator Levin, to say that no Iraqi prisoner would 
be compensated for the abuse they endured unless the American POWs were 
compensated for the abuse that they endured. It seems to me that if we 
are going to use resources to compensate the Iraqi prisoners, that the 
American POWs are entitled to at least similar compensation; and I hope 
that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle will recognize the 
injustice of compensating the Iraqi prisoners while we fight the 
compensation for American prisoners of war.
  So during the next weeks and months, I am going to be looking for 
ways to attach this language to a piece of legislation that will 
guarantee this fairness and will correct this unjust situation.

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