WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Appropriations Committees, has introduced an amendment (#2407) to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which expresses the sense of the Senate that fiscal year 2014 funds for recovering and identifying personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action (POW/MIA) should not be subject to the annual appropriations process.

"POW/MIA service members deserve a hero’s welcome home to a grateful nation and their recovery should never be delayed or postponed," Sen. Moran said. "A recent incident that occurred with a POW-MIA Kansan led to my decision to offer this amendment. We must make certain any lapse in appropriations due to a government shutdown does not delay the excavations of our nation’s heroes who have been waiting decades to be welcomed home."

During the lapse in appropriations and government shutdown in October 2013, several POW/MIA cases previously scheduled to occur by the Joint POW/MIA Accountability Command in November and December were postponed due to the lack of funding from an annual appropriations bill. Amendment #2407 strives to prevent such scenarios from happening again and would make certain these cases stay on schedule for excavation through other funding vehicles, including continuing resolutions.

Sen. Moran has also co-sponsored amendment (#2217) introduced by U.S. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) to require the submission of a report by the Department of Defense in order to keep them  accountable for bringing home Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who is currently POW/MIA in Afghanistan.

Click below to read the full text of Amendment #2407.

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