FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 16, 2006

Chambliss, Isakson Urge Recognition
of POW/MIA’s as President Bush Travels to Vietnam

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., are urging President Bush, who will be traveling to Vietnam Friday, to highlight POW/MIA’s during his visit to that country.  The President will attend the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation Conference and will reportedly meet for bilateral talks with Vietnam’s President, General Secretary and Prime Minister.

 “Accounting for our remaining POW/MIA’s is critical to maintaining faith with the members of our Armed Forces – past, present and future – and their families,” the senators said in a letter to Bush.   “Knowing the fate of their loved ones brings a sense of closure to families that they cannot achieve otherwise.  It is only right that our nation continue to keep POW/MIA accounting in the forefront and encourage other nations to do likewise.”

Chambliss and Isakson, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, also noted that a small delegation from the National League of Families just returned from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia after meeting with senior officials in all three countries.  They stressed the need for Vietnam to respond to the criteria the President sent to the Congress on March 20, 2002, calling on Vietnam to take specific unilateral actions on archival documents, including on cases in Laos and Cambodia. 

“A message from you thanking the Vietnamese for cooperation and progress thus far and requesting greater unilateral effort on archives is precisely the simple, but critical message needed at this time,” the senators said.

Chambliss and Isakson also urged President Bush to include Ambassador Charlie Ray, the newly appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs, in the bilateral sessions. 

“The Vietnamese have long known and publicly acknowledged the constructive role that cooperation related to POW/MIA accounting played as their bridge to the normalization of bilateral relations,” they said.  “Having Ambassador Ray with you will signal that the United States also recognizes the centrality of this issue.”

Finally, the senators urged the President to recommend to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the visit that he name a counterpart Russian Chairman to General Robert Foglesong, who was recently appointed as the U.S. chairman of the U.S.-Russia Commission on POW/MIA Affairs.  

Senator Chambliss is a member of the US-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIA’s and is co-chair of the Vietnam War working group. He has previously traveled to Russia to meet with his Russian counterpart, General Shamanov.

Both Senators Chambliss and Isakson proudly display the POW/MIA flag along side the Georgia and United States flags in their Washington, DC offices. 

###