Expressing support for National POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 1630, expressing support for National POW/MIA Recognition Day, which occurred on September 17.

With every war America wages, our Nation owes a greater debt to the courageous and selfless members of the United States Armed Forces who have fought to secure our freedom and liberty. During the course of these conflicts, more than 138,000 brave American service men and women have been detained or interned as prisoners of war. Many suffered through torture, forced labor, and unspeakable hardships. Some POWs return home; others did not. They all deserve our recognition and our gratitude.

Also deserving special recognition are those Americans who never return from war--who are missing in action. Indeed, there remain today over 84,000 missing in action soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who are unaccounted for on the battlefields of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the cold war, and the gulf war.

One particular group of American heroes I want to mention today are the more than 500 U.S. marines and sailors from World War II who remain unaccounted for on the small Pacific atoll of Tarawa. I worked with Armed Forces Committee Chairman Ike Skelton to include language in the 2010 defense reauthorization urging the Defense Department to review new research on the location of the remains of U.S. servicemen on Tarawa and to do everything feasible to see that they are recovered.

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, JPAC, has just returned from Tarawa with word that they have recovered the remains of what they believe to be two U.S. servicemen. I, along with the families of those missing servicemembers, look forward to receiving the full report on this mission.

It is our obligation to honor the extraordinary service of all American POWs and MIAs. Congress first passed a resolution commemorating National POW/MIA Recognition Day in 1979. Since then, the third Friday of every September has been set aside to give remembrance to our Nation's prisoners of war, unaccounted for military personnel, and their families and friends.

So long as members of our Armed Forces remain unaccounted for, we must expend every effort to bring them home to the country in whose defense they fought and sacrificed. It is vital that today's troops and their families know the U.S. will pursue all possible measures to fulfill the promise of recovery.

I want to highlight the unwavering commitment of the military commands devoted to recovering remains and providing solace and closure to the families of Americans who remain missing in action from previous conflicts. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command has successfully undertaken countless missions throughout the world to bring home the remains of fallen servicemembers, and the efforts of the Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory, the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory, and numerous veterans and POW/MIA organizations are more than deserving of recognition as well.

And, unfortunately, we cannot forget the two U.S. servicemen who are currently listed as held captive in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will continue to pray for a swift and auspicious end to their ordeal.

I want to thank my colleagues who joined me in cosponsoring this resolution, as well as House Armed Services Committee Chairman Skelton for his help in moving that resolution.

I want to thank Mr. Critz for his work on this issue and other issues in serving our veterans, and also Mr. Jones for all his work for our veterans.

Until they are home, our thoughts and prayers will forever remain with the families, friends and loved ones of those Americans who have suffered through tremendous hardship for their country.

I ask all my colleagues to join in support of National POW/MIA Recognition Day and to take a moment to reflect upon the immeasurable sacrifices made by America's service men and women to ensure our freedom.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of House Resolution 1630 to express support for National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day.

I would like to commend the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) for introducing this resolution. At the heart of this resolution is the principle that the American military never leaves a fallen comrade behind. More than 84,000 members of the Armed Forces remain unaccounted for from World War II, the Korean war, Vietnam, the cold war, and the gulf war, and U.S. military personnel have been held in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Since the Vietnam war, achieving the fullest possible accounting of our POWs and MIAs has been a national priority. The Department of Defense organizations principally responsible for the accounting effort have made significant progress even at the cost of the lives of some involved in the physically demanding, dangerous fieldwork required. So I want to especially commend the efforts of the Defense POW/Missing Persons Office, the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command, the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory, the Life Sciences Equipment Laboratory, and each of the military services. They make up the core of the Department of Defense's accounting community.

Yet with all the progress that has been made, more needs to be done. The House Armed Services Committee took the lead a year ago with the enactment, for the first time, of a statutory requirement that the POWs and missing from all America's prior wars be fully accounted for. In addition, the legislation mandated that by 2015, the Department of Defense achieve the fullest possible accounting of no less than 200 persons a year. To achieve this requirement will require additional resources and an improved integration of effort among the DOD accounting community. We look forward to the Department of Defense plan to improve the way it has conducted the accounting mission.

It is also important for us to understand and commend the efforts of the families and loved ones of those who remain unaccounted for. Their unflagging grassroots efforts, as well as those of national POW/MIA organizations, have been essential to ensure that both the Congress and the executive branch remain committed to the accounting effort.

Finally, we must not forget those who died as POWs or survived captivity despite starvation, forced labor, and severe torture. For this reason, this resolution in support of National Prisoner of War/ Missing in Action Recognition Day is an important one, and I urge unanimous support for its adoption.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1630) expressing support for National POW/MIA Recognition Day, as amended.

I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise today in support of House Resolution 1630, expressing support for National Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Day. I would like to thank the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski) for sponsoring this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, on September 17, a very important and symbolic flag flew over the United States Capitol, one that represents both the deepest and rawest wounds of war as well as uncommon valor and the most selfless of sacrifices. This is the POW/MIA flag. Etched in black and white on this flag is a silhouette of a young man whose face cannot be seen. This is the face of every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine who has endured imprisonment and the harshest of conditions as a prisoner at the hands of the enemy, and of every brave soul who did not return home from battle but remains unaccounted for in a distant land.

As a Nation, it is our sacred duty to ensure that these missing soldiers are not forgotten and to work tirelessly until every story ends and all are accounted for. By recovering our missing soldiers, we also recover a missing piece of our national heritage and honor, those who fought to preserve it. Honoring American POWs and MIAs is a reminder to look back on our proud history, a tapestry woven of thousands of individual stories and sacrifices and of lives dedicated to the preservation of the freedom we hold so dear. This is the embodiment of our country's solemn promise to the prisoners of war and missing in action of our Armed Forces. We will never stop searching for you, and you are not forgotten.

I urge my colleagues to recognize and commend the service of the thousands of former prisoners of war and servicemembers missing in action by voting in favor of House Resolution 1630.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield such time as he may consume to my friend and colleague, and the sponsor of this resolution, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lipinski).

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time

I rise today in support of H. Res. 1630, a resolution expressing support for National POW/MIA Recognition Day.

Mr. Speaker, as Members of Congress our most solemn obligation is to defend the United States and protect the American people from those who would do them harm. But we merely make national security policy. The men and women in uniform who shoulder the burden of defending our nation--who fight and sacrifice around the world on our behalf--they are the tip of the spear, who risk life and limb to keep us safe.

Those American warriors who are captured or missing in action must be honored, and this resolution does honor them. We extend the gratitude of this body and the nation to those who have served and continue to serve the United States in captivity to hostile forces as prisoners of war, and those who remain missing. But more importantly, we must make every effort to find and liberate them. American service men and women must know that they will not be forgotten. They will not be abandoned.

More than 138,000 members of the Armed Forces who fought in World War II, the Korean war, the Vietnam war, the cold war, the gulf war, and Operation Iraqi Freedom were detained or interned as POWs. Many of them endured unimaginable suffering. Today, more than 84,000 members of the Armed Forces remain unaccounted for. And there remain today members of the Armed Forces held captive in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Speaker, let us pause to honor those who have been captured or missing while serving our country at war. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, a small token of our solemn appreciation.