American Legion Passes POW/MP Reslution

 

National Executive Committee of the American Legion Passes POW/MP Resolution


"...The American Legion urges the President and the Congress to support legislation and policies that will use all reasonable resources to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all missing American service members regardless of location or era of loss."


NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN LEGION

Meeting in INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
MAY 4 – 5, 2011

Passed
Resolution No. 18: POW/MIA Accounting Policies

Origin: Foreign Relations Commission

Submitted by: Foreign Relations Commission

WHEREAS, Many Americans remain missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for from America’s past foreign wars and conflicts, and reports indicate that in former enemy areas where Americans could still be alive, information has been deliberately and cruelly withheld; and

WHEREAS, The families of POW/MIA suffer untold grief and uncertainty due to the lack of any accurate accounting, often in spite of the heroic efforts of US search teams; and

WHEREAS, Advancements in science and forensic technology have caused specific locations of alleged remains of US servicemembers to be recently identified by the US Government; and

WHEREAS, New and promising identification techniques involving radiographic comparison and facial superimposition have drastically increased our ability to identify servicemen for whom DNA matching is not an alternative; and

WHEREAS, The American Legion advocates for the full accounting of mis
sing Americans, in every country, on every continent; and

WHEREAS, The American Legion believes US Government POW/MIA operations are inadequate, and the President's normalization of relations with countries known to withhold information pertaining to American POWs has not achieved substantial progress;

now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, By The National Executive Committee of The American Legion in regular meeting assembled in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 4-5, 2011, that The American Legion urges the President and the Congress to support legislation and policies that will use all reasonable resources to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all missing American service members regardless of location or era of loss.


Honorable John Boehner, Speker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Speaker Boehner:

We understand the House Rules Committee is considering allowing H.R. 1497 to be amended to the National Defense Authorization Act during the consideration on the floor later this week. On behalf of the 2.4-million members of the American Legion, we urge your support and passage of this amendment.

The American Legion has a long-standing position of accounting for the remains of each service member who are classified as missing-in-action. We have supported numerous studies, increased funding, and exhaustive efforts for the repatriation of the remains of our national heroes. We remain committed to a full accounting no matter how difficult, no matter what the odds.

There within Tripoli, lie the remains of American servicememebers who gave their life in one of our original conflicts within the region. There within a forgotten cemetery lies the remains of an American naval hero, Master Commandant Richard Somers, whose legacy inspires those still serving in the Navy. There lie remains that family members have pled to have returned to the United States.

It is therefore the opportunity and more importantly duty of Congress to direct that we recover the remains of those Americans within Tripoli. We've had opportunities to do so in the past, yet those may evaporate in the changing political climate of Libya. We can accomplish this at no additional cost to our nation. Therefore, we urge you to amend the Defense Authorization Act to implore the Department of Defense to immediately seek return of these brave Americans.

The time has come to bring our heroes home. We hope we can count on you to carry out this mission. Please support the Rogers Amendment of the National Defense Authorization Act.

For God and Country

Signature
Tim Tetz, Director
National Legislative Commission
American Legion