Patsy T. Mink: “I rise in support of section 535 of H.R. 4205. At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific there are 647 nameless…”

“I rise in support of section 535 of H.R. 4205. At the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific there are 647 nameless remains of soldiers and sailors who died on December 7, 1941 as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor. They are buried in graves marked simply ``unknown.'' H.R. 3806, which I introduced on March 1, 2000, would require that the Department of Veterans Affairs add information to the gravestones identifying the ship and the date of the death of those gallant servicemen. I thank the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Mr. Spence, for being a cosponsor of the legislation. I appreciate his efforts, and the efforts of the ranking minority member of the Committee, Mr. Skelton, to include language in H.R. 4205 to recognize these gallant men who gave their lives for their country. Section 535 of the bill provides that the 74 graves containing the remains of 124 unknowns from the U.S.S. Arizona be marked with the name of the ship on which they served.”