Jeremiah Smith: “Mr. President, as you know, last Thursday, I offered an amendment that would require the Congressional-Executive…”

“Mr. President, as you know, last Thursday, I offered an amendment that would require the Congressional-Executive Commission, which is created under the permanent normal trade relations bill on China, to monitor the level of Chinese cooperation on the POW/MIA issue and to pass this information to the American people as part of an annual report that the commission will issue. I have long been an advocate of the POW/MIA issue. I believe the U.S. Government should make every effort to account for any missing American servicemen from any of our Nation's conflicts. I am sure you all agree that we have a solemn obligation to these brave Americans and their families. There are over 10,000 unaccounted-for American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines from Korea, Vietnam, and the cold war, not to mention many from World War II. The fate of many of these unaccounted-for Americans, especially from the Korean war, could be easily clarified by the People's Republic of China. This is an undisputed fact, that the Chinese continue to deny that they have any information that could help us account for our missing.”