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APPENDIX 3

Prior Investigations

The Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs began its work in October 1991 fully recognizing that the POW/MIA issue had been examined and investigated by Congress and the Department of Defense (DoD) many times over the last twenty years. The Select Committee was determined to learn as much as possible from those previous investigations, particularly in the early stages of our work, but was equally determined to avoid the methodological mistakes and issue-area omissions of those previous investigations. Most importantly, we did not accept the findings or methodology of previous investigations as valid for the purposes of our investigation, nor did we limit the scope of our investigation as many prior Congressional and Executive Branch investigations had.

In reviewing previous Congressional investigations of the POW/MIA issue, we attempted to identify previous areas of inquiry and omission. As a result we were able to focus the Committee's efforts and resources on investigating topics which previous investigations had been unable to reach as well as identifying witnesses which the Committee wished to interview.

Our investigation has had several distinct advantages over previous Congressional investigations. First, we were provided substantial time (fifteen months) and resources ($2 million) to conduct our investigation. Second, we have had better access to documents, both classified and unclassified, than any previous investigation. Third, we have enjoyed the advantage of a changing international climate which has increased the level of cooperation from Southeast Asia and the former Soviet Union. Fourth, we have been able to interview and take oral depositions from individuals who have never been called to testify before Congress on this issue. Fifth, we have included every conceivable aspect of the POW/MIA issue in our investigation.

Below is a brief review of the scope, depth and general findings or areas of inquiry of major previous Congressional and Executive Branch investigations or oversight of POW/MIA matters. This brief synopses of those inquiries should help distinguish this committees work from past Congressional involvement with the POW/MIA issue. Accompanying each investigation summary is a critique of its strengths and weaknesses as seen with the benefit of years of hindsight and the additional information available to, or wider perspective obtained from, our own investigation.