The U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bipartisan amendment to the minibus appropriations bill that would increase federal funding by $10 million to support the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in identifying and processing the remains of fallen American service members.
Senate Amendment (S.Amdt.) 3706, introduced on Aug. 16 by U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-NE), was included in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2019, H.R. 6157, on Aug. 20 following the Senate’s 85-0 approval to provide the additional funds. Cosponsors of the amendment included U.S. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Susan Collins (R-ME), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
“The families of American men and women lost in service deserve closure,” said Sen. Fischer, a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. “Our amendment would provide the resources needed to conduct forensic analysis of these new remains from North Korea.”
She noted that the extra funds would ensure a DPAA lab located at Offutt Air Force Base in her home state would not be negatively impacted “by shortfalls due to this influx of work” to identify the remains of U.S. military members killed in North Korea.
The United States on July 27 received 55 boxes from North Korea presumably containing the remains of missing Americans from the Korean War. The return of the boxes, which also held artifacts from unknown soldiers including boots, canteens and mess kits, was part of the deal made between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their Singapore summit in June.
According to a statement from Sen. Fischer’s office, the DPAA has started processing the remains at its lab in Hawaii.
S.Amdt. 3706 would provide the necessary increased funding to help the DPAA more quickly complete its work in Hawaii, and any future work, which could take years, added Sen. Young.
“I was proud to cosponsor and vote for this amendment that will help provide the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency with the resources needed to fulfill its mission,” Sen. Young said. “Returning our fallen heroes is the least we can do for the families of service members who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.”
A statement from Sen. Young’s office noted that the only ID tags returned by the North Koreans this summer were those of Master Sgt. Charles Hobert McDaniel, a U.S. Army medic from the senator’s home state of Indiana. McDaniel is believed to have been killed during the first months of the Korean War.
During a ceremony earlier this month in Arlington, Va., the Army presented McDaniel’s dog tag to his sons, who were also presented with the Purple Heart awarded to their father for his service in the Korean War.
Another 5,300 U.S. military personnel, who likely died during the war, are listed as Missing In Action in North Korea, where their remains are still likely located, according to Fischer’s statement.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States thanked Sens. Fischer and Baldwin for their leadership in introducing the amendment to guarantee the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency would get “the funding it needs to reunite our fallen heroes with their loved ones,” said VFW National Security and Foreign Affairs Director John Towles.
A cloture motion to end debate on the defense minibus spending measure was presented in the Senate on Aug. 21 as members continue working to reconcile the bill with the U.S. House version.