- To: AIIPOWMIAI@aol.com
- Subject: POW: McCain's Legislative Record in Support of the Fullest PossibleAccounting
- From: AIIPOWMIAI@aol.com
- Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 00:02:49 EST
- Full-name: AIIPOWMIAI
Advocacy And Intelligence Index
For Prisoners Of War/Missing In Action, Inc.
(AIIPOWMIAI@aol.com)
Bob Necci and Andi Wolos
THE POW/MIA E-MAIL NETWORK (c)
aiifeb15.00a
John McCain's Legislative Record in Support of the Fullest Possible
Accounting of Our Missing Service Personnel
Paid for by McCain 2000, Inc.
735 N. St. Asaph Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
(703) 837-2000 toll-free: 1 (877) 905-7700
A VirtualSprockets Production
Senator McCain, who served his country as a prisoner of war for five and a
half years in Vietnam, understands better than most the anguish of
uncertainty that the families of POW/MIAs suffer in the absence of
information about the fate of their loved ones. He has devoted considerable
time and energy to seeking the fullest possible accounting of our POW/MIAs,
and to providing that all information concerning their fate be subjected to
full public scrutiny, so long as the declassification of this information
does not violate the privacy of POW/MIA family members or compromise US
intelligence sources and methods. He remains devoted to achieving the fullest
possible accounting of our missing service personnel.
SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE ON POW/MIA AFFAIRS
In the summer of 1991, Senator McCain called for the formation of a
Presidential Commission on POW/MIAs and recommended that General Norman
Schwarzkopf serve as chairman. He discussed his proposal with senior
Administration officials who were receptive to the idea, but ultimately
decided not to implement the proposal after the Senate formed the new Select
Committee on POW/MIA Affairs.
In recognition of McCain's involvement in the POW/MIA issue, and the
knowledge he would bring to its deliberations, Senator Dole asked Senator
McCain to serve as a member of the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA
Affairs, which met from August 1991-December 1992. The Committee was charged
with the fullest investigation ever conducted of our government's policies
and practices to account for our POW/MIAs. Senator McCain was deeply involved
in the Committee's deliberations, always operating on the assumption that
some POW/MIAs may have remained in captivity in Southeast Asia.
In addition to establishing the truth, Senator McCain saw the Committee as a
vehicle to fully investigate reports of fraud and hoaxes perpetrated on the
families of POW/MIAs. While there are many unanswered questions about the
fate of our POW/MIAs for which our government and the governments of several
other nations must provide answers, there have also been numerous incidents
in which photographs and other evidence have been manufactured to deceive
POW/MIA families, the US government, and, at the time, the Senate Select
Committee. The pain this has caused the families is unconscionable. These
frauds divert the government's scarce resources from seeking a full
accounting.
As a member of the Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, Senator McCain played
an integral role in the most extensive independent investigation of the
POW/MIA issue ever undertaken. He voted to approve the Committee's final
report, which concluded that, although some POWs may not have returned at the
end of the Vietnam War in 1973, there was no credible evidence to suggest
that any were still alive in captivity; that there was no conspiracy to cover
up any evidence of live POWs, but there was serious neglect and mismanagement
of the issue by successive Administrations; that about 100 POWs expected to
be returned at the end of the war did not come home; and that the Committee
could not state with certainty that there were no living POWs in Southeast
Asia. The Committee report stated that successive Administrations had lacked
the will to properly investigate the POW/MIA issue in the wake of the Vietnam
War and did not sufficiently pursue a full accounting.
The Committee also addressed the activities of POW/MIA activist groups,
praising most of them for their commitment to determining the true fate of
lost or missing American service members but acknowledging instances of
organizations profiteering from the issue and distorting evidence related to
the possibility of live POWs in Southeast Asia. As the approved Committee
report noted, "The vast majority of private organizations engaged in
POW/MIA-related activities reflect the highest standards of voluntary, public
service and deserve the nation's gratitude and praise." It also stated that,
"In some instances, an excessive percentage of funds raised has been retained
by the fundraising organization. In others, the fundraising solicitations
have overstated to the point of distortion the weight of evidence indicating
that live US POWs continue to be held in Southeast Asia."
TRUTH BILL
In response to continued public dissatisfaction with the US government's
efforts to account for our POW/MIAs, McCain introduced S. 1270, the "Truth
Bill," on July 11, 1991. The bill required the heads of Federal agencies to
publicly disclose classified information concerning POW/MIAs from the Vietnam
War. Other Members of Congress had previously sought unsuccessfully to pass a
version of the Truth Bill. Senator McCain's legislation was the first and
only Truth Bill to be adopted by Congress and signed into law by the
President (PL 102-190). Under the provisions of his legislation, which passed
as an amendment to the Fiscal Year 1992 Defense Authorization Act, the
Defense Department was required to declassify all information concerning our
POW/MIAs except for that information which, if disclosed, would compromise
intelligence sources, risk the lives of any remaining POWs, or which the next
of kin had declined to release for privacy reasons.
DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
In the course of the Select Committee's work, it became apparent that to
restore public confidence in the commitment of the United States to the
fullest possible accounting of POW/MIAs, the information concerning them and
our government's efforts to recover them would have to be declassified at an
accelerated pace. Accordingly, Senator McCain joined with the other members
of the Select Committee to call on the President to issue an executive order
to declassify all intelligence, with exceptions for national security and
privacy reasons, and all reports and internal reviews of our government's
efforts to secure a full accounting. McCain also cosponsored a Senate
resolution to that effect. On July 22, 1992, the President signed the
executive order, and 1.3 million POW/MIA documents were immediately released
to the public.
POW/MIA OFFICE IN VIETNAM
In April 1991, Senator McCain traveled to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos to urge
authorities there to comply with US requests for cooperation in securing the
fullest possible accounting for our POW/MIAs, such as opening their military
archives to inspection by US investigators. McCain's efforts were credited
with significantly helping the United States to reach an agreement with the
Vietnamese government to establish in Hanoi a POW/MIA office to inspect
Vietnamese records, as well as conduct field investigations. McCain has since
traveled regularly to Southeast Asia to monitor and encourage progress in the
ongoing, intensive search for evidence into the fate of our missing
personnel. On April 25, 1991, Senator McCain introduced Senate Resolution
118, commending the establishment of the US POW/MIA Office in Hanoi and
recommending that the office serve as a liaison between the families of
POW/MIAs and the government of Vietnam. The resolution was adopted
unanimously on May 9, 1991. On September 26, 1991, McCain sponsored an
amendment to the Defense Appropriations Act of 1992. The amendment
appropriated $5 million for the newly established POW/MIA Office in Hanoi so
that the personnel of that office would have the necessary resources to seek
the fullest possible accounting of our POW/MIAs. The amendment was adopted
unanimously and enacted into law (PL 102-172).
NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH VIETNAM
On July 27, 1991, McCain introduced an amendment with several other Senators
linking progress toward normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam to
Vietnam's cooperation in resolving the POW/MIA issue, as well as to resolving
the Cambodian war and releasing Vietnamese political prisoners.
On January 26, 1994, during Senate consideration of the FY1994-95 Foreign
Relations Authorization Act, Senator McCain offered an amendment expressing
the sense of the Senate that in order to obtain the fullest possible
accounting of American servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War, the
President should lift the US trade embargo against Vietnam. The amendment was
agreed to on January 27 by voice vote, and was included in the final measure,
H.R. 2333, which was signed into law as PL 103-236 on April 30, 1994. In the
same bill, Senator McCain cosponsored a provision requiring the Department of
Defense to review all existing statutes pertaining to missing personnel and
recommend changes to improve accounting procedures.
On July 11, 1995, the United States normalized diplomatic relations with
Vietnam with Senator McCain's strong support. McCain's leadership on opening
relations has dramatically improved American officials' access to field
locations, as well as archives and individuals, that shed light on the fate
of our missing. In cooperation with Vietnamese authorities, American teams on
the ground in Vietnam have conducted 57 Joint Field Activities and determined
the fate of all but 43 of the 196 individuals last known alive. Without
Vietnamese cooperation, such progress would be impossible.
IMPROVED ACCOUNTING
In June 1994, Senator McCain sponsored an amendment during markup of the
Senate version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995
(S. 2182) that required the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
(DPMO) to establish a single point of contact for the families of Korean War
and Cold War-era military personnel missing in action. The provision was
included in the final conference report, which was signed into law as PL
103-337 on October 5, 1994.
Senator McCain agreed with the Department of Defense and all affected
individual military commands, including the Pacific Command and others, that
provisions included in the Fiscal Year 1996 Defense Authorization Act (S.
1124; signed into law as PL 104-106 on February 10, 1996) pertaining to
missing personnel were excessively obstructive of military commanders'
ability to accomplish their objectives during military operations. He further
agreed with the Department that certain of the provisions were highly
intrusive into matters traditionally, and legally, the domain of primary
next-of-kin of those missing in action.
To rectify that situation, Senator McCain sponsored amendments to the Fiscal
Year 1997 Defense Authorization Act to repeal certain of those provisions.
His amendments were adopted by the Armed Services Committee during markup on
the bill in May 1996. The conference report for the FY1997 Defense
Authorization Act included a compromise provision, Section 578, between
supporters and detractors of the measures from the FY1996 bill that made
wartime in-the-field reporting requirements more flexible and provided
greater protections to primary next-of-kin and families of missing personnel,
but also reincorporated into the Act provisions pertaining to judicial review
and appointment of legal counsel for each missing individual. H.R. 3230 was
signed into law (PL 104-201) on September 23, 1996.
In its version of the Fiscal Year 1998 Defense Authorization Act, the House
National Security Committee restored the provisions from the FY1996 bill
removed by Senator McCain in the FY1997 bill. Those provisions included the
requirement that military commanders in the field report within 48 hours the
status of unaccounted-for personnel. Regional and warfighting
commanders-in-chief (CINCs) had strongly opposed this provision, and Senator
McCain supported their position. Another provision restored by the House
despite opposition by the Armed Forces required a greater level of
involvement by theater component commanders in the initial assessment of a
missing person's status -- an unnecessary departure from previous practice.
The House also restored a provision requiring reviews of every missing person
file every three years for 30 years, irrespective of whether new information
had emerged. Additionally, the House bill imposed criminal penalties on
individuals determined to have withheld information from a missing person's
file.
Senator McCain, again with the strong support of the regional and warfighting
CINCs, opposed the House provisions as being militarily impractical,
administratively disruptive, and exceedingly distrustful of US military
commanders, from the lowest to the highest ranks. During conference
negotiations between the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Senator
McCain fought to moderate the House stance and to resolve the issue of how
missing personnel cases should be handled once and for all. The compromise is
included as Section 599 in the conference report for the FY1998 Defense
Authorization Act. The conference report was signed into law on November 18,
1997, as PL 105-85.
PERSIAN GULF WAR
In response to news reports that a US Navy fighter pilot, LCDR Michael
Speicher, had been shot down over Iraq during the initial phase of Operation
Desert Storm with his remains unaccounted for, Senator McCain, on January 9,
1998, wrote to Secretary of Defense William Cohen to express his concern
about the manner in which LCDR Speicher's case had been handled, to request a
briefing on the status of the case, and to urge that all information
pertaining to the case (legitimately classified sources-and-means information
exempted) be made public as soon as possible. The Department responded by
correspondence on February 13, 1998, expressing the Speicher family's wish
that information not be released to the public. Senator McCain's staff was
subsequently briefed on the case in a classified setting.
POW DEBRIEFING RECORDS
In 1999, legislation requested by the Department of Defense to protect the
integrity of Vietnam-era POW-returnee debriefings was wrongly characterized
as a bill to deny American veterans access to their service records. Nothing
in the legislation would do any such thing. When requested to do so by DOD,
the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee included this provision in the
Fiscal Year 2000 Defense Authorization Act to preserve the confidentiality of
prisoner-of-war debriefing files.
This initiative establishes as privileged information the debriefings of
returned POW's obtained under a promise of confidentiality to the returnee.
The measure is limited to returned POW's and affects no other category of
veteran. Nor does it prevent the returnee from reviewing his or her own
debriefing file. As Undersecretary of Defense Walter Slocombe wrote in a June
1999 letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, "The
proposed legislation would protect former POW's from release to others of the
personal and sensitive information concerning their incarceration that they
provided under a promise of confidentiality. They would thereby be assured
that the details of this intensely personal experience are treated as
privileged information. They deserve this protection."
Senator McCain has been at the forefront of Congressional efforts to resolve
the fate of American servicemen missing from the war in Vietnam. He believes
that the Federal government should be as responsive as possible to POW/MIA
families, and his efforts have led to disclosure of much official material
previously denied to missing personnel advocates and loved ones. His support
for normalized U.S.-Vietnam relations has provided more answers to more
families over the fate of their missing than did the previous long-standing
policy of isolating that country. He remains committed to all constructive
efforts to account for our missing personnel. The mothers, fathers, wives,
and children to whom they never came home, and for whom they will always be
heroes, deserve no less.
**********************************************************
DISCLAIMER: The content of this message is the sole responsibility of the
originator. Posting of this message to the POW/MIA E-MAIL NETWORK(c)
list does not constitute AIIPOWMIAI endorsement. It is provided so that you
may be informed of current information. AIIPOWMIAI is not associated in any
capacity with any United States Government agency or entity, nor with any
nongovernmental organization.
**COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any
copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit
or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.
[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ]
Advocacy And Intelligence Index
For Prisoners Of War/Missing In Action, Inc.
1220 Locust Avenue, Bohemia, Long Island, New York 11716-2169 USA
Voice: (1-631) 567-9057 Fax: (1-631) 244-7097 TDD: (1-631) 244-6996
E-mail: BobNecci@aol.com (Bob Necci)
andi@earthlink.net (Andi Wolos)
Website: http://www.aiipowmia.com/