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Rolling Thunder®, Inc. has advocated and co-authored legislation on the
POW/MIA issue and other veterans' concerns and interests.
The
POW/MIA Memorial Flag Act (S-1226)
This bill was signed into legislation by President George W. Bush in part due to Rolling Thunder®, Inc.’s lobbying efforts. The main force behind this bill was Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Congressman Dan Burton. The POW/MIA flag will fly below the American Flag any day the American flag is flown in Washington, DC at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Korean Memorial and the WWII memorial. Rolling Thunder®, Inc. continues to lobby for enhanced legislation for finding and returning American Prisoners of War, and for legislation to increase military funding to provide our troops with the proper combat protection gear, better compensation, and to provide our troops and veterans with better healthcare and disability benefits.
Persian Gulf
War POW/MIA Accountability Act of 2002, S.1339
First introduced by Campbell in August 2, 2001, the legislation amends the Bring Them Home Alive Act of 2000 which was signed into law in November of 2001. That law provides for the granting of refugee status in the United States to nationals of certain foreign countries in which American Vietnam POW/MIAs or American Korean War POW/MIAs may be present, if those nationals assist in returning POW/MIAs alive. The new law extends the granting of refugee status in the United States to nationals of Iraq or the greater Middle East region. It provides for the International Broadcasting Bureau, which includes the Voice of America, to broadcast information about the law in the Middle East. The necessity of this legislation is demonstrated by the case of Sgt. Matt Maupin (Army), an American soldier whose fuel convoy came under fire near Baghdad on April 9, 2004. Sgt. Maupin has been missing ever since. Another name not unfamiliar to us is Capt. Scott Speicher (Navy), a Persian Gulf War Veteran who has been missing since 1991 with no conclusive evidence of his fate. |
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