The U.S. Congress is AWOL on POW/MIAs?

The U.S. Congress is AWOL on POW/MIAs?

The U.S. Veteran Dispatch
March/April/May 1997 Editorial

Tragically, American history regarding the U.S. Congress and American POW/MIAs appears to be repeating itself. During the past two years, during the 104th Congress, Congressman Bob Dornan, Chairman of the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the House National Security Committee made significant progress in using his office to uncover the veil of U.S. Government secrecy and deception regarding U.S. servicemen left behind in Korea, China, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He demonstrated the power that can be utilized by only one or a handful of elected officials who care enough to find the truth.

A significant body of evidence released to the public by Chairman Dornan included poignant first-hand testimony and voluminous documents from the Eisenhower Library that depicted the frustration of the Eisenhower Administration to get answers on hundreds of Americans who were kept behind the Iron Curtain, including some unfortunate young Americans who were used as human guinea pigs for biological and psychological warfare experiments. The documents show that Congressional hearings were held in 1957 to underscore the importance for the Administration to pursue the return of the missing men. As a result, "House Concurrent Resolution 292" was passed on July 8, 1957. It stated, "that it is a sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Defense, would continue to make the return of, or a satisfactory accounting for, the 450 American prisoners of war, a primary objective of the foreign policy of the United States."

The records also record concern expressed by the Department of Defense, the State Department and the White House that one of the most tenacious lawmakers of that period, Senator William F. Knowland, an articulate anti-Communist, would continue to speak in public about the issue unless the Administration made an effort to produce results. Unfortunately, Knowland left the Senate in 1958. Not coincidentally, by 1959 State Department was issuing public statements to the effect that, "we have no reliable information... that indicates that any Americans are actually languishing somewhere in Chinese Communists prisons." However, the U.S. Government had no reliable information that the Americans who were known to have been taken to China and the Soviet Union had died. The Defense Department cited provisions of the original Missing Persons Act that permitted the U.S. Government to declare missing POWs dead without proof in order to payoff their families.

Fast forward... It is 1997, Bob Dornan is missing in the 105th Congress. His Chairmanship is given to Congressman Stephen Buyer of Indiana, who demonstrates no interest in continuing public hearings or discussing the POW/MIA issue. Buyer inherits a Subcommittee staff that resented Chairman Dornan holding numerous open hearings on the issue, besides delivering countless special orders on the floor of the Congress. The ranking Democrats on the Committee also demonstrate no interest in following-up the myriad open questions on the fates of missing Americans that a recalcitrant DPMO, State Department and Intelligence bureaucracy refuse to answer.

Currently, without Military Personnel Subcommittee action, a small group of Congressmen from various Committees, including Congressmen Ben Gilman of New York, James Talent of Missouri, Sam Johnson of Texas, and Senators Bob Smith of New Hampshire and Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado are making a valiant effort to pry answers from an obstinate Clinton Administration bureaucracy. Their valiant effort deserves every American's support.

The bleak scenario has a glimmer of hope. Congressmen Ben Gilman, Jim Talent, Gerry Solomon, Sam Johnson, Lee Hamilton and Paul McHale have resubmitted the, "Missing Persons Protection Act." This important legislation will reinstate important provisions of the 1996 Missing Persons Act, including the requirements for credible forensic evidence to identify remains and criminal penalty for bureaucrats who willfully withhold information. The Congressmen expect a difficult battle in gaining support from the Senate because of the vitriolic obstructions of Senator John McCain. The most dangerous period for the bill is in House/Senate conference negotiations, where last year the House Subcommittee staff sold out the Missing Persons Act at midnight behind closed doors. This year, again, passage requires active campaigning by national and statewide veterans organizations to assure support by local Congressmen and Senators.

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