Lawmakers continue effort to compensate POWs

Suzanne Struglinski

Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 10:51 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Legislators are continuing to try to help Las Vegas resident Jeffrey Tice and 16 other former prisoners of war get $959 million owed to them by the former Iraqi government.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a House resolution on Nov. 21 that the former POWs and their families should be compensated and receive the money owed to them based on a decision by the U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.

Congress is set to adjourn for the year later today, but a Meeks spokeswoman said today the fight will be taken up again next year.

The Senate approved an amendment to the Veteran's Administration spending bill that was similar to the House resolution. The amendment was offered by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., last month, but it is unclear if it will remain in the final version of the bill.

Conyers, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, he "can't figure out" why the White House will not give the money to the soldiers.

"What are the rest of the personnel in Iraq thinking at this moment?" Conyers said, then said the answer the question is: "They are going to deny us too?"

At issue is the $959 million owed to Tice and 16 other POWs from the United States' first war with Iraq. They won the judgment after suing the Iraqi government for pain caused by torture during their imprisonment. They were supposed to collect the money from Iraq's assets but the White House froze the assets once the war began and is now using them to rebuild Iraq.

The State Department had objected to Reid's amendment in the past saying it was "inconsistent with our national objective regarding Iraq."

On a Nov. 23 "60 Minutes" segment, Reid said holding the assets is hurting the POWs' chances of getting their payment.

Jeff Fox, one of the former POWs who brought the suit, said he has received no comments on the matter from any executive branch officials, even since the "60 Minutes" report aired. Fox also appeared on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" program to discuss the case.

Rep. Julia Carson, D-Ind., said she will insert the text of the House resolution into her Christmas cards this year. The cards also have a yellow ribbon on the front to support the troops.

The resolution, if passed next year, is not legally binding, but would express the "sense of the Congress" that the POWs should receive the money from the court case.

The POWs have said that if they get the money, they plan to set up a foundation with a chunk of the funds to help future prisoners of war.