Benjamin Gilman: “today I am introducing the Missing Service Personnel Act of 1995 to ensure fairness in resolving any further questions…”

“today I am introducing the Missing Service Personnel Act of 1995 to ensure fairness in resolving any further questions about our missing armed service personnel. Currently, Mr. Speaker, the Department of Defense relies on outdated legislation and guidelines which have not been changed over the past 50 years in designating those who are missing in action and/or declared dead. As a result, those who are missing are declared dead when there is still a possibility that they could still be alive. The purpose of the Missing Service Personnel Act is to make certain that any members of the Armed Forces, any civilian officers or any employee serving with or accompanying an Armed Force in a field under orders will be fully accounted for by the Federal Government and may not be declared dead solely because of the passage of time. Accordingly, I am urging my colleagues to strongly support this legislation. It is the very least we could do to both assist the family members who painfully and frustratingly seek the truth about their loved ones and for those who have chosen to serve and fight for our Nation.”