Recognizing the Commitment of the United States to the Recovery and Accounting for Americans who are Prisoners of War or Missing
RECOGNIZING THE COMMITMENT OF THE UNITED STATES TO THE RECOVERY AND ACCOUNTING FOR AMERICANS WHO ARE PRISONERS OF WAR OR MISSING -- (House of Representatives - February 16, 2005)
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Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina for yielding me this time, and for his words, as well as those of the sponsor of the bill, the gentleman from Arizona. Again, this is, I think, a singular moment when there is no voice of dissent.
Might I pay special tribute, of course, to my colleague, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson), who has always reminded us in this House, as have many others, but in particular, as he hails from my State of Texas, the debt of gratitude and the debt of commitment that we still continue to owe to those who are missing in action.
This resolution I want to acknowledge because of a very precise statement that it contains, which is very key to what we are doing here today. It states we are celebrating the historic commitment of the United States "to the recovery of and full accounting for Americans who are prisoners of war or in a missing status."
I think more than celebrate, I hope with the passage of this legislation that the American people will understand that no brave young man or woman, no brave person who has submitted themselves to the oath of office to fight for this country on foreign shores, will ever become just a footnote in our minds and hearts, but that we will continue to press the envelope, we will continue to use all the resources, we will continue to wave the flags, we will continue to teach our children that they have given the ultimate sacrifice, maybe, but that their names still have not been described as having passed in battle and, therefore, it is our obligation to continue to search for them until we determine their status.
It gave me great pride to share with former council member Ben Reyes the first raising of a POW-MIA flag in front of the city hall in the City of Houston. We did that some many years ago. How proud we were to stand with veterans from Houston as they watched that flag recognizing and commemorating, in just the City of Houston in this Nation, on behalf of its children, on behalf of its soldiers that we would never stop searching or at least pushing for our MIAs.
Let me also appreciate the recognition of the 11th Airborne Division, particularly the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of that division, that were particularly brave as they went behind enemy lines to rescue over 2,000 people in an internment camp.
Let me also acknowledge my constituents who marched on that death march some many, many years ago, where they saw some lose their lives and some be carried off, not knowing where they might go. Let me acknowledge them as well, as this resolution does.
My final words this afternoon are simply to say that as we celebrate, let us make a personal commitment both in terms of resources, a large component of defense authorization and appropriations, that there should continue to be funding and focus on our POWs and, of course, our MIAs. We owe that to the families. We owe it to the American people.
Mr. Speaker, I support this resolution enthusiastically.
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