IV 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 485 
Extending the thanks of Congress and the Nation to the Defense POW/ 
Missing Personnel Office and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command 
of the Department of Defense and to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 
for their efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans 
unaccounted for as a result of the Vietnam War. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 22, 2004 
Mr. SIMMONS (for himself and Mr. EVANS) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and 
in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Extending the thanks of Congress and the Nation to the 
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office and the Joint 
POW/MIA Accounting Command of the Department of 
Defense and to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for 
their efforts to achieve the fullest possible accounting 
of all Americans unaccounted for as a result of the 
Vietnam War. 
Whereas 
the 
Defense 
POW/Missing 
Personnel 
Office 
(DPMO), an element of the Office of the Secretary of 
Defense, exercises policy, control and oversight within the
•HCON 485 IH 
Department of Defense of the entire process for inves-
tigation and recovery related to missing persons; 
Whereas the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office coordi-
nates for the Department of Defense with other depart-
ments and agencies of the United States on all matters 
concerning missing persons and establishes procedure to 
be followed by Department of Defense boards of inquiry 
and by officials reviewing the reports of such boards; 
Whereas the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), 
located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii, was activated 
on October 1, 2003, as a standing joint task force of the 
United States Pacific Command with the mission of 
achieving the fullest possible accounting of all Americans 
missing as a result of the Nation’s previous conflicts; 
Whereas the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command was cre-
ated from the merger of the 30-year-old United States 
Army Central Identification Laboratory, Hawaii, and the 
11-year-old Joint Task Force-Full Accounting; 
Whereas the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, com-
manded by a flag officer, is committed and dedicated to 
bringing home the Nation’s service members and civilians 
who made the ultimate sacrifice; 
Whereas the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command is a 425- 
member organization comprised of handpicked members 
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps with 
specialized skills and Department of the Navy civilians; 
Whereas the laboratory portion of that command, referred to 
as the Central Identification Laboratory, is the largest 
forensic anthropology laboratory in the world; 
Whereas National POW/MIA Recognition Day is one of the 
6 days specified by law as days on which the POW/MIA
•HCON 485 IH 
flag is to be flown over specified Federal facilities and 
national cemeteries, post offices, and military installa-
tions; 
Whereas as diplomatic relations of the United States with the 
Socialist Republic of Vietnam have improved, so has ac-
cess to archival information and on-site investigations rel-
ative to unaccounted-for Americans; 
Whereas as of July 8, 2004, more than 77 Joint Field Activi-
ties have been conducted in Vietnam in hopes of bringing 
home remains of Americans unaccounted for from the 
Vietnam War; 
Whereas as of July 8, 2004, remains of 503 Americans have 
been repatriated, identified, and returned to their fami-
lies across America; 
Whereas in June 2004 the Deputy Assistant Secretary of De-
fense for POW/MIA Affairs met with senior Vietnamese 
officials to follow-up on proposals made during previous 
visits; 
Whereas during a recent visit Vietnamese officials agreed to 
allow access to capitol area archives and the return of 
United States personnel to the Central Highlands; 
Whereas Vietnamese officials have allowed United States in-
vestigators to conduct nearly 300 oral history interviews 
with Vietnamese government and military officials; and 
Whereas the Department of Defense has reciprocated by al-
lowing Vietnamese officials access to United States 
records and maps to assist their search for unaccounted 
for Vietnamese: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress—