68th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--1995 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 1854
Senate Concurrent Resolution 5
Sponsored by Senator ADAMS (at the request of Forest Wilson)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Asks Oregon Attorney General to commence proceeding before
Supreme Court of United States against United States, specified
agencies of United States and representatives of specified
foreign nations, alleging violation of civil rights of American
citizens being held by those foreign nations as prisoners of war.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas there is continuing controversy concerning the presence
of American servicemen, who were listed as Prisoners of War or
Missing in Action, being held against their will in the southeast
Asian nations of Vietnam, Laos and Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia);
and
Whereas the United States government has stated that all of our
Prisoners of War have been returned from Vietnam; and
Whereas a recent top secret Vietnamese report, dating from
1972, by General Tran Von Kwong, Deputy Chief of Staff for the
North Vietnamese Army, reported that in September of 1972, Hanoi
held 1,205 American Prisoners; and
Whereas only 591 American Prisoners of War have been released
under the 1973 Peace Settlement; and
Whereas Vietnamese nationals who have moved to the United
States have reported the appearance of American Prisoners of War
still being held against their will in Southeast Asia; and
Whereas the President of Russia let it be known that the Soviet
Union took American servicemen during the Vietnam War into Russia
and that there is no adequate explanation concerning the
whereabouts of these servicemen; and
Whereas there are still hundreds of documents in the United
States Defense Department that have not been released to the
public concerning the fate of American servicemen classified as
Prisoners of War or Missing in Action; and
Whereas the United States government's intelligence agencies
have taken the position of trying to discredit any information
concerning the existence of American Prisoners of War, instead of
demanding a full accounting from Vietnam, Laos and Kampuchea
based upon said information that has been received; and
Whereas there are 42 missing and unaccounted for servicemen in
Southeast Asia from the State of Oregon; and
Whereas the United States government has never entered into
negotiations with the government of Laos concerning the release
of American Prisoners of War who were taken prisoner by the
communists in Laos during the Vietnam War; and
Whereas the United States government has never entered into
negotiations with the government of Kampuchea concerning the
release of American Prisoners of War who were taken prisoner by
the communists in Kampuchea during the Vietnam War; and
Whereas the Paris Peace Accord is now 20 years old and any
national security secrets on the technology that was used in the
war would be outdated, especially considering that military
research and arms buildup have made most of the technology and
methods used in the Vietnam War obsolete; and
Whereas the only reason for secrecy at this time would be to
cover up the actions of politicians, bureaucrats and negotiators
who deliberately abandoned American Prisoners of War after the
Vietnam War; and
Whereas any Americans who are still being held against their
will in Southeast Asia as a result of the Vietnam War are having
their right to liberty--that inherent and inalienable right by
which they are endowed by our Creator, as guaranteed by the
Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United
States--violated; and
Whereas Americans highly prize and value that sacred right of
liberty, that right the founders of our nation pledged to fight
for with their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to
win and to protect; and
Whereas the executive branch of the Federal Government has
miserably failed to even attempt to negotiate the release of
Americans who may still be held in Southeast Asia and is
obstructing the discovery of any remaining American servicemen;
and
Whereas the legislative branch of the Federal Government has
also miserably failed to thoroughly investigate and honestly
report on this tragedy and, indeed, has even ordered the
destruction of staff documents containing staff intelligence
reports on this sensitive issue; and
Whereas the inferior courts of the federal judiciary have not
granted relief to the American servicemen listed as Prisoners of
War or Missing in Action; and
Whereas the Supreme Court of the United States is the last
bastion that an American citizen has for redress of grievances
and protection of Constitutional liberty against an oppressive
federal executive and a duplicitous federal legislature; and
Whereas the United States Constitution, in Article III, section
2, states 'In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public
Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be a
Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction.'; now,
therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
Oregon:
That we, the members of the Sixty-eighth Legislative Assembly,
request the Attorney General of the State of Oregon, on behalf of
the people of the State of Oregon, to file in the Supreme Court
of the United States an action against the government of the
United States, especially the Department of Defense and the
intelligence agencies, and also against the ambassadors or other
public ministers and consuls of the governments of Vietnam, Laos,
Kampuchea, Russia and China, alleging violation of civil rights
of the people of the State of Oregon, especially alleging the
violation of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness of the following named citizens of the State of Oregon:
____NOTE_TO_GOPHER_CUSTOMERS:__________________________________
THE FOLLOWING TABULAR TEXT MAY BE IRREGULAR.
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE THE PRINTED MEASURE.
_______________________________________________________________
____NOTE_TO_GOPHER_CUSTOMERS:__________________________________
THE FOLLOWING TABULAR TEXT MAY BE IRREGULAR.
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE THE PRINTED MEASURE.
_______________________________________________________________
Military Home City
Name Service of Record
____NOTE_TO_GOPHER_CUSTOMERS:__________________________________
THE FOLLOWING TABULAR TEXT MAY BE IRREGULAR.
FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE THE PRINTED MEASURE.
_______________________________________________________________
ALTUS, ROBERT WAYNE USAF SHERIDAN
AUSTIN, CARL BENJAMIN USN WOODBURN
BADLEY, JAMES LINDSAY USAF HERMISTON
BRETT, ROBERT ARTHUR JR. USAF CORVALLIS
BRUCHER, JOHN MARTIN USAF CLATSKANIE
BURNHAM, MASON IRWIN USAF PORTLAND
BUSHNELL, BRIAN LEE USN TUALATIN
CARTER, GERALD LYNN USN WINSTON
COATES, DONALD LEROY USMC TIGARD
COOPER, DANIEL DEAN USN MEDFORD
DEXTER, BENNIE LEE USAF BEND
DIXON, DAVID LLOYD USN MEDFORD
ECHANIS, JOSEPH YGNACIO USAF PORTLAND
ECKLEY, WAYNE ALVIN USAF ENTERPRISE
ELZINGA, RICHARD G. USAF SHEDD
FISHER, DONALD E. USAF HALFWAY
GOEDEN, GENE WILLIAM USN CORNELIUS
HASSENGER, ARDEN K. USAF LEBANON
HOFF, MICHAEL G. USN LA GRANDE
HOSKINSON, ROBERT E. USAF MORO
KINKADE, WILLIAM L. USAF CORVALLIS
KNIGHT, LARRY D. USAF ALBANY
LAGRAND, WILLIAM JOHN USA PORTLAND
LONGANECKER, RONALD LEE USMC PORTLAND
LOVEGREN, DAVID EUGENE USA PORTLAND
LOWRY, TYRRELL GORDON USAF PORTLAND
MCCLELLAN, PAUL TRUMAN JR. USAF WEST STAYTON
NEWTON, WARREN E. USA CANBY
NOPP, ROBERT G. USA SALEM
PATTERSON, BRUCE MERLE USN PORTLAND
REINECKE, WAYNE C. USN MILWAUKIE
RICKER, WILLIAM ERNEST USN PORTLAND
ROBERTS, HAROLD J. JR. USAF PORTLAND
SHORACK, THEODORE JAMES JR. USAF SALEM
SILVER, EDWARD D. USAF JUNCTION CITY
SMITH, HALLIE W. USAF PORTLAND
STANLEY, ROBERT W USAF PORTLAND
STRAWN, JOHN THOMAS USA SALEM
WALKER, LLOYD FRANCIS USAF MOUNT ANGEL
WALKER, THOMAS TAYLOR USAF TOLEDO
WARE, JOHN ALAN USA HERMISTON
WOODS, GERALD ERNEST USA SALEM
____________________________________________________________
END OF POSSIBLE IRREGULAR TABULAR TEXT
____________________________________________________________
Be it further Resolved, That the Attorney General of the State
of Oregon, in filing this suit, shall demand that the Department
of Defense, the intelligence agencies, the governments of
Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Russia and China turn over all
documents concerning Prisoners of War and Missing in Action in
Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam; and be it further
Resolved, That the sister 49 states of the United States of
America be urged to join in this action on behalf of their state
and the citizens of their state who are being held in captivity
in Southeast Asia; and be it further
Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be transmitted to the
Attorney General of the State of Oregon, to the President of the
United States, to the Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the United States
Senate, to each member of the Oregon Congressional Delegation and
to the presiding officers of the legislative assemblies of our
sister 49 states.
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