|
Early in 1998, the Senate approved amendments introduced by Senators Bob Smith (R-NH) and
Kaye Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), to the proposed NATO treaties for Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic,
three former Soviet Bloc countries. The Amendments required President Clinton to certify full cooperation by
these countries on the POW/MIA accounting issue before the treaties could be ratified.
U.S. investigators complainted that the three countries were not fully cooperating, but President Clinton, nonetheless,
made the required certification. Despite the lost opportunity in all of this, the show of
support by the Senate was encouraging.
In June 1998, Congressman Ben Gilman (R-NY), chairman of the House International Relations
Committee, held a hearing focusing on policiesand direction of the POW/MIA Full Accouting.
Administration officials outlined areas of accomplishment, such as joint excavations and limited
archival research in North Korea. Chuck Kartman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East
Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State, and Fred Smith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary International
Security Affairs/Office of the Secretary of Defense, stressed the Clinton Administration's firm commitment to the
fullest possible accounting. Chuck Kartman testified that the level of cooperation on POW/MIA issues from the
proposed NATO members has not been satisfactory.
Ambasssdor Malcom Toon, then Chairman of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs, testified
that he believes hundreds of American POWs from the Korean and Vietnam Wars propably were taken to the Soviet Union.
He said that the Joint Commission has not made the progess that it is entitled to in obtaining information from former
Soviet Bloc countries. He also stated that, in his opinion, President Clinton should have waited before certifying full
cooperation by Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
On October 2, 1998, Congressman Steve Buyer (R-IN), chairman of the Military Personnel subcommittee of the House National
Security Committee, led a hearing on DOD policy and implementation of the recently revised Missing Service Personnel Act.
Revisions to the Act deal with some aspects of the accounting process, including review of the official statusof the missing
servicemen and reporting requirements for future missing
personnel.
Representatives from DPMO, veterans, and family organizations, including
Donna Knox, President of the Coalition of Families, gave testimony on implementation of the revisions.
Bob Jones, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIAs told the committee that his report, which sets forth how DPMO interprets and plans
to inplement the revisions, will soon be released. Testimony from veterans and family representatives outlined areas where progress
has been made, or is lacking, by DPMO in implementing the revisions.
These witnesses added that U.S. foreign policy has not been effective
in obtaining full cooperation on the POW/MIA issue with the relevant foreign countries. Disappointment was expressed for the failure of President
Clinton and his senior advisors to publicly address this Administration's policy on the full accounting or
its specific agenda for implementation of that policy.
The Coalition of Families will continue work with members of 106th Congress throughout 1999 on legislation pertaining
to declassification of information by the U.S. government, relative to Korean and Cold War
missing servicemen. Currently, each President, through executive order, determines what information
may be declassified. As a result, there has been inconsistency and excessive secrecy.
|