And it matters to the Department of Defense because we are a family, and like family we cherish and care for our own. And so though the years may pass and hopes flare and flicker, our resolve to rescue and account for all Americans, felled or held, remains a steady burning flame. But as we recall these trials and triumphs of the past, we also have to focus upon the threats and the possibilities of the future, the new dangers of instability and regional conflict and weapons of mass destruction. Dangers against which we have to maintain strong forces that are forward deployed and poised at the ready. But there are also some new opportunities as these old walls fall.
Democracy grows and technology continues to shrink the globe, reducing vast oceans to mere ponds.
These are opportunities for the United States to shape a world where there is more freedom in more nations, more prosperity for more people, and therefore fewer threats to American interests. We can also seize some of these opportunities to better account for those who remain prisoners of war and mising in action. We're harnessing technology to give us the capability to track our troops in conflict and to rescue them quickly and safely whenever necessary, and to give us the power to use DNA testing to identify remains and to reduce the number of missing in action. And in a changing world, the United States is engaging old enemies and building new friendships, which is opening doors and yielding answers. From North Korea where tough negotiations by the American team led to more joint recovery operations and discoveries in archival research, to China which has allowed a team to search a World War II site where an American transport plane crashed, to Russia where an American team now lives and conducts reseaches with the full cooperation of the Yeltsin government.