SJR 50: Requesting the governor to file suit in the United States Supreme Court against the United States government alleging violations of the civil rights of Americans listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in Southeast Asia; and requesting the other states to join in this suit.
00SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 50 01 Requesting the governor to file suit in the United States Supreme Court against 02 the United States government alleging violations of the civil rights of Americans 03 listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in Southeast Asia; and requesting 04 the other states to join in this suit. 05 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 06 WHEREAS there is continuing controversy concerning Americans who were listed as 07 Prisoners of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA) while serving in the Southeast Asian 08 nations of Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea (formerly Cambodia); and 09 WHEREAS the implied United States government position is that all of these POWs 10 have been returned, although only 591 American POWs have been released under the 1973 11 Peace Settlement; and 12 WHEREAS a Vietnamese report dating from 1972 by General Tran Von Kwang, 13 Deputy Chief of Staff for the North Vietnamese Army, reported that in September of 1972 14 Hanoi held 1,205 American prisoners, and Vietnamese nationals who have moved to the
01 United States have reported the appearance of American prisoners still being held in Southeast 02 Asia; and 03 WHEREAS Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia, let it be known that the Soviet Union 04 took members of the American armed forces into the former Soviet Union during the Vietnam 05 War and that there is no adequate explanation of the whereabouts of these Americans; and 06 WHEREAS there are still hundreds of documents concerning this issue held by the 07 United States Department of Defense that have not been released to the public, yet individuals 08 within the federal intelligence agencies have tried to discredit information concerning the 09 existence of American POWs instead of demanding a full accounting from Vietnam, Laos, and 10 Kampuchea; and 11 WHEREAS there are two missing and unaccounted for servicemen in Southeast Asia 12 from Alaska; and 13 WHEREAS the right to liberty--that inherent and inalienable right endowed by our 14 Creator, as guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United 15 States--is being denied to any American being held prisoner in Southeast Asia as a result of 16 the Vietnam War; and 17 WHEREAS the executive branch of the federal government has not even attempted 18 to negotiate the release of Americans that may still be held in Southeast Asia and is not 19 actively searching for remaining Americans; and 20 WHEREAS the lower courts of the federal judiciary have not granted relief; and 21 WHEREAS the United States Constitution in art. III, sec. 2, states, "In all Cases 22 affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Counsels and those in which a State shall 23 be a Party, the Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction."; 24 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 25 governor to authorize suit in the United States Supreme Court against the United States 26 government, especially the Department of Defense and the intelligence agencies, and against 27 the ambassadors or other public ministers and counsels of the governments of Vietnam, Laos, 28 Kampuchea, Russia, and China, alleging violations of the civil rights of the people of Alaska, 29 and especially alleging the violation of the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness 30 of Thomas E. Andersson, USMC, and Howard M. Koslosky, USN; and be it 31 FURTHER RESOLVED that the suit demand that the Department of Defense, the
01 intelligence agencies, and the governments of Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, Russia, and China 02 be ordered to turn over all documents concerning Americans listed as POWs or MIAs as a 03 result of the Vietnam War; and be it 04 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully requests the 05 other 49 states of the United States to join in this action on behalf of their citizens being held 06 in captivity in Southeast Asia. 07 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 08 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President 09 of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; 10 to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the 11 Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; 12 and to the governors and the presiding officers of the houses of the legislatures of each of our 13 sister states.