BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Laos has returned the possible remains
of an American aviator missing in action from the Vietnam War to
U.S. officials.

      The remains were presented Tuesday (28 October 97) to U.S. Ambassador 
Wendy Chamberlin by Soubanh Srinthirath, Laotian vice minister for
foreign affairs.

      ``We appreciate the compassion of the Lao citizens who have
cooperated in the return of these remains and hope ... that other
Lao citizens will come forward with information which will help
other American families come to closure on the death of their loved
ones,'' Chamberlin said.

      The remains were the first returned under a new program in which
Laotian teams unilaterally investigate leads on cases that joint
U.S.-Laotian teams have been unable to resolve.

      They are believed to be those of an Air Force pilot lost Dec.
24, 1970, over Xiangkhouang province in northeastern Laos. They
will be flown to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory at
Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.

      Washington has made improved relations with Laos conditional on
cooperation in resolving the fate of 454 Americans still missing
there from the Vietnam War.

      The United States has reported excellent cooperation, and visits
by American investigators have accelerated. The remains of 115
Americans have been identified.

      The U.S. war in Laos was conducted under secrecy. Most missing
American servicemen were aviators downed on bombing runs to cut
supplies from communist North Vietnam passing through officially
neutral Laos to U.S.-backed South Vietnam.




THE BUYER MEETING ON MISSING PERSONS PROVISIONS
HOUSE - SENATE CONFERENCE, FY 98 DOD AUTHORIZATION ACT
29 October 97

Chairing this meeting of family members, family member organizations,
veteran service organizations, former civilian and military POWs and 
concerned citizens was Representative Steven Buyer, Chairman, Military 
Personnel Subcommittee of the House National Security Committee. Also
present were Representatives Gene Taylor, James Talent and Sam Johnson.

The Conference negotiations were extremely tough. Let me state a fact,
if Sen. John McCain wanted to kill this Conference, he could have. Each
senator has the power to stop passage of a bill from the House even if
it passes unanimously. Sen. McCain did not do this. He chose the course
of compromise. Of the 20 items that were placed on the table, 13 survived 
the conference. While we did not all that we wanted, overall, we did 
make good progress. 

Allow me to make two observations of the dynamics of what I saw come from
this meeting. First, we almost had total agreement, the Missing Persons
provisions of the Conference will strengthen current law. This is of primary
importance. Secondly, Representative Buyer has committed his committee to
oversight on this issue.

Let me paraphrase Rep. Talents remarks: You have been able to accomplish the
impossible. For the last three years, this issue has almost singlehandedly
shut down Defense. So if someone tells you there is no interest in POW/MIAs,
they are wrong. 

Representative Buyer has asked for our input into the oversight process. Lets
make sure we get that information to him. 

The Military Personnel Subcommittee
2340 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  
Voice: (202) 225-7560
Fax: (202) 226-0789

It would also be appropriate for us to thank those on this committee for
obtaining for our servicemembers and civilians these new protections.

The committee is Buyer, Talent, Bartlett, Lewis, Watts, Thornberry, Graham,
Bono, Ryun, Taylor, Skelton, Pickett, Underwood, Harman, Kennedy and Maloney.

- Bob