Excerpts: Lugar, Gilman on National POW/MIA Recognition Day
(Urge greater effort to recover remains from Korea, Vietnam)Two Republican lawmakers have very different assessments of progress in the recovery of Americans missing-in-action (MIA) from the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
Senator Richard Lugar (Republican of Indiana) sees progress being made in the recovery of American MIAs from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, while Representative Benjamin Gilman (Republican of New York) takes a more critical view of actions Pyongyang and Hanoi have taken to assist the United States.
Both made their views known September 21 in speeches to the Senate and House of Representatives as part of POW/MIA Recognition Day.
Lugar said the "painstaking work of recovery operations have, in the past year, seen the return of 36 Americans from the war in Southeast Asia."
Lugar noted that 1,957 Americans remain unaccounted for at this time from Southeast Asia, with 1,474 from Vietnam alone.
In 2000, those numbers stood at 2,005 and 1,511 respectively, he added.
In Korea, progress continues as well, according to Lugar.
The Indiana lawmaker noted that 10 Joint Recovery Operations have been conducted in North Korea in 2001, resulting in "the identification and return of three Americans to their families and final resting places."
Representative Benjamin Gilman took a less optimistic view of cooperation from the two communist regimes.
"Despite the prior administration's best assurances to the contrary, many of us in Congress remained unconvinced that the governments of North Korea and Vietnam have been fully cooperating with the United States on this issue," he said.
Gilman, the chairman emeritus of the House International Relations Committee, said that normalizing trade relations with Hanoi has removed U.S. leverage over the Vietnamese government on the issue.
Gilman said there has been progress in the recovery of remains.
"Since the end of the war, 586 sets of remains have been returned from Vietnam, with 285 returned since 1991," Gilman said.
However, he added, "despite an official position to the contrary, U.S. government efforts on the POW/MIA issue have traditionally focused on remains recovery, with little, if any, emphasis on the live Americans issue."
Gilman recalled how, in response to questions about recovery efforts in 1996, Clinton administration officials "admitted that the discussion of live American prisoners was not even on the agenda when U.S. officials met with their North Korean, Vietnamese, or Laotian counterparts."
The United States, he went on, "particularly the last administration, has often appeared to equate activity on recovery efforts, regardless of any subsequent results, with progress on the issue."
Gilman, a staunch opponent of communist regimes during his legislative career, said he believes Vietnam is "the lynchpin" in determining the success of future endeavors at gaining "more information from both Laos and Cambodia on missing personnel."
Hanoi's communist rulers, Gilman continued, "despite recent certifications to the contrary, realize that there is much more they can do on this issue. On the issue of documentation alone, there is far more they can provide than what they have offered up to this point."
Regarding the Pyongyang regime, Gilman said the Bush administration is in a stronger position because North Korea "has a far greater need for hard currency than Vietnam, and our new President is unlikely to continue the policy of outright appeasement on both nuclear power/weapons development and MIA remains recovery."
Citing the Congressional Research Service, Gilman said 208 sets of remains were repatriated from North Korea between 1990-96, and 107 sets since 1996 when joint exhumation efforts began.
"Given that only eight sets of remains have been identified as U.S. soldiers, although ten more appear to be so, we have in effect been paying the North Koreans $400,000 per body, an outrageous sum and certainly not evidence of North Korean 'cooperation,'" Gilman said.
"While the Vietnamese were not quite so brazen in their profiteering on the MIA issue, there is considerable evidence that they maintained a mortuary storehouse of sorts of U.S. remains, and doled these out over time," he said.
Following are excerpts from speeches by Senator Richard Lugar and Representative Benjamin Gilman from the September 21 Congressional Record:
(begin excerpts of Lugar's remarks)
NATIONAL POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY
Senate
September 21, 2001Mr. LUGAR. Madam President, today is National POW/MIA Recognition Day.
In light of the tragic events of September 11, this day of remembrance and recognition has new meaning. We have spoken about a new kind of "war" but we are not sure what shape it will take. Whatever form, however, it will likely include casualties and perhaps prisoners, these are among the harsh lessons history has taught us. This day gains new meaning, too, when we consider the rescue workers who continue to comb through the war zones at the Pentagon and in lower Manhattan for the bodies of the fallen, the missing, in action.
In time of war, an entire nation unites with a singularity of purpose.
But, we all know how swiftly the Nation's attention can wane and be distracted. Those of us in this body and across the relevant Executive agencies, however, cannot be distracted from one thing; that is, a commitment to ensure the return of POWs and MIAs at the end of hostilities. The vigorous pursuit of this commitment must continue through painstaking on-site investigations, diplomatic negotiations and complete examinations of records following a conflict.
As we look forward with resolve, we must recognize the work that the many POW/MIA organizations have done, led by the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, DPMO. The painstaking work of recovery operations have, in the past year, seen the return of 36 Americans from the war in Southeast Asia; however, 1,957 remain unaccounted for at this time from SEA, 1,474 from Vietnam alone. Last year, those numbers stood at 2,005 and 1,511 respectively.
Seven of the dedicated men engaged in Vietnam recovery operations gave their own lives this year, even as they searched for fallen comrades. The Americans died along with nine Vietnamese in April when their helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain about 250 miles south of Hanoi. The team was scouting excavations for six MIA crash sites.
In Korea, where the fighting ended in 1953, progress continues. Ten Joint Recovery Operations have been conducted in North Korea this year, resulting in the identification and return of three Americans to their families and final resting places. Twenty-six servicemen have been identified from World War II recoveries. Teams from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii continue to implement cutting-edge DNA technology, and as renowned experts in the field, have contributed their know-how and direct assistance to the operations in New York and at the Pentagon.
Just last month, another team headed off to Russia to bring home the remains of seven Navy flyers whose World War II PV-1 Ventura bomber were lost on the Kamchatka peninsula. The plane went missing from a March 25, 1944 bombing mission from Alaska to the Kurile Islands. The Navy has located family members and prepared comparison DNA samples in hopes that all will be returned at long last. Having spent time in that part of the world, I know what dedication to duty it takes to dig in that extreme weather. I understand that weather permits them only about a 30-day window.
As we know well, this is a team effort requiring the commitment and dedication of the Congress, the Administration, the Departments of Defense and State, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the NSA. I am hopeful that all of us, through continued humanitarian support and dedicated diplomatic endeavors will gain further information about the servicemen still missing to honor their sacrifice and provide peace and solace to their loved ones. You are not forgotten. . . .
(end excerpts of Lugar's remarks)
(begin excerpts of Gilman's remarks)
POW/MIA DAY 2001
HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN
Extensions of Remarks
September 21, 2001HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFriday, September 21, 2001
Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to my colleague's attention that tomorrow has been designated as National POW/MIA Day for 2001. This is an annual commemoration, designated by the President, for Americans to remember the sacrifices of those armed service-members who were captured in wartime, and those whose ultimate fate remains unknown.
Our nation fought four major conflicts in the 20th century. In those wars, over 142,000 Americans were taken prisoner-of-war. . . .
The vast majority of these individuals, more than 134,000, were eventually returned to U.S. control. However, more than 17,000 did not come home, and joined the ranks of the missing-in-action. According to the Congressional research service, over 88,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from 20th century wars. . . .
Korean War figures have been notoriously inaccurate, and of this aforementioned figure, "only" 2,195 cases exist where death was not witnessed or otherwise well-documented. Regarding the Vietnam War, 1,956 Americans remain missing from that conflict, of which the defense department believes 657 are definitely dead, including 459 who were lost at sea or over water.
I have been a strong advocate of an accounting of our POW/MIA's since I first came to the Congress in 1973. . . .
At the time, the POW/MIA issue did not resonate with the American public, who wanted to forget the whole Vietnam experience as soon as possible. Along with like-minded colleagues in the House, I sought to work closely with the National League of Families to raise the profile of the POW/MIA issue with the American people and force the Department of Defense to adopt a sustained policy of seeking a full accounting for all those individuals who did not come home, especially with those who were last known to be alive in captivity. . . .
In 1995, I introduced H.R. 945, The Missing Service Personnel Act of 1995, which was eventually incorporated into the Defense Authorization Act for FY '96. . . .
Two years ago, I introduced legislation to declassify all of the classified documents from these hearings that were in the possession of the national archives. This resolution, which the House adopted unanimously, made available hundreds of formerly secret documents, allowing family members and academic researchers the opportunity to review previously unavailable material, which might eventually help with securing a final resolution for some MIA cases.
Permit me to focus special recognition on those POW/MIA's from Korea and Vietnam. Despite the prior administration's best assurances to the contrary, many of us in Congress remained unconvinced that the governments of North Korea and Vietnam have been fully cooperating with the United States on this issue. Regrettably, by normalizing relations with Vietnam, I believe that we have withdrawn our leverage over the Vietnamese government on this issue.
It bears noting that we have made some progress. Since the end of the war, 586 sets of remains have been returned from Vietnam, with 285 returned since 1991. However, despite an official position to the contrary, U.S. government efforts on the POW/MIA issue have traditionally focused on remains recovery, with little, if any, emphasis on the live Americans issue. In fact, in answers to questions I posed in hearings on recovery efforts back in 1996, Clinton administration officials admitted that the discussion of live American prisoners was not even on the agenda when U.S. officials met with their North Korean, Vietnamese, or Laotian counterparts. Rather, they preferred to focus solely on the issue of remains recovery as a measurement of cooperation on the MIA issue from those countries.
The U.S. government, particularly the last administration, has often appeared to equate activity on recovery efforts, regardless of any subsequent results, with progress on the issue. This is not an insignificant point, the Defense Department has expended a substantial amount of money on remains recovery over the past decade, which begs the following question. Are North Korea, Vietnam and Laos truly interested in bilateral cooperation on this issue, or are they using it as a source of badly needed hard currency?
This is especially pertinent concerning the case of North Korea. According to the Congressional research Service, 208 sets of remains were repatriated from North Korea between 1990-96, and 107 sets since 1996 when joint exhumation efforts began. . . .
Given that only eight sets of remains have been identified as U.S. soldiers, although ten more appear to be so, we have in effect been paying the North Koreans $400,000 per body, an outrageous sum and certainly not evidence of North Korean "cooperation."
While the Vietnamese were not quite so brazen in their profiteering on the MIA issue, there is considerable evidence that they maintained a mortuary storehouse of sorts of U.S. remains, and doled these out over time. Most analysts, including those at the Library of Congress, agree that if this did occur, the supply of stored bodies was depleted in the early 1990s.
Regrettably, in its rush to normalize relations with Vietnam, the Clinton administration decided to overlook any evidence that Hanoi was holding back on cooperation or attempting to profit from it. This pattern was later repeated when the administration sought the establishment of trade relations. The opportunity to use trade and recognition as leverage to achieve faster results on the MIA issue was lost.
I am optimistic about our new President and his commitment to the POW/MIA issue. In a refreshing break from the past eight years, I expect that the Bush administration will adopt a more traditional stance towards Vietnam and North Korea on the POW/MIA issue. At the very least, I expect to see a higher standard applied towards determining whether or not those countries are cooperating and acting in good faith on this matter.
The new president has demonstrated a proven commitment to this important issue, and his relevant appointments to the State and Defense departments, including the new head of DPMO, Jerry Jennings, have the policy background to provide greater integration of the POW/MIA issue into our relations with Southeast Asia and North Korea.
On this point, I believe that Vietnam is the lynchpin that will determine the success or failures of any future endeavors. The Vietnamese are the key to gaining more information from both Laos and Cambodia on missing personnel. Moreover, the Vietnamese, despite recent certifications to the contrary, realize that there is much more they can do on this issue. On the issue of documentation alone, there is far more they can provide than what they have offered up to this point.
The Bush administration is in a much stronger position with regards to North Korea. This country has a far greater need for hard currency than Vietnam, and our new President is unlikely to continue the policy of outright appeasement on both nuclear power/weapons development and MIA remains recovery. It will be interesting to see how the white house approaches North Korea on these issues.
I believe we in Congress also have a role to play regarding North Korea. We need to have the new administration press the North Koreans harder on the issue of prisoner transfers to the USSR during and after the Korean war, as well as the matter of the possibility of live Americans still being held by Pyongyang. While this possibility, if it still exists, becomes more remote with each passing year, the escapes of several South Korean veterans of the 1950-53 war in recent years means this cannot be totally discounted. If any Americans are still being held in captivity in North Korea, and we know that four defectors/deserters still reside there, they should have the opportunity to return home before they die.
It is my hope that our bilateral relations can improve and will lead to a further clarification regarding the safe return of any living POW's who may still be in captivity in Korea or elsewhere.
Americans should always remember the love of country that America's veterans have shown as well as their personal sacrifices, courage, convictions and dedication to freedom that these individuals have exhibited. . . .
May it be of some solace to the families and loved ones of our missing and POW's that there are many of us in the Congress committed to a full and final accounting of our missing.
In light of recent events in New York City, we hope that we will not be faced with a future POW/MIA issue from any resulting military action that we may undertake in Southern Asia.
(end excerpts of Gilman's remarks)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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