ACCESSION 
NUMBER:370267

FILE ID:EUR212

DATE:12/06/94

TITLE:U.S.-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION ON POW/MIAS TO HOLD PLENARY (12/06/94)

TEXT:*94120607.PFE

*EUR212   12/06/94

U.S.-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION ON POW/MIAS TO HOLD PLENARY

(Text: State Department statement) (420)

Washington -- The U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs plenary will be

held in Washington December 7-9.



Following is the text of the December 6 statement by Christine Shelly,

acting spokesman of the State Department:



(Begin text)

U.S.-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION ON POW/MIAS PLENARY TO BE HELD IN WASHINGTON,

DECEMBER 7-9, 1994





The eleventh United States-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs (USRJC)

plenary is scheduled to take place in Washington, December 7-9, 1994.  The

Joint Commission has met nine times in Moscow, commencing March 1992, and

most recently in August/September 1994.  The current Washington meeting is

the second to be held here.  The commission has also traveled to the Baltic

States, Ukraine, Armenia, Czech Republic, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and to

eastern Russia in an effort to expand interview efforts and archival

searches.



This plenary is intended to promote the work already undertaken in previous

commission meetings held over the past two and one-half years.  Discussions

will involve working group sessions for World War II, Korean, Cold War, and

Vietnam; permit Russian delegates to examine our archival holdings; meet

with senior American military and civilian officials, and provide a forum

for family members to directly ask Russian commission members questions

pertaining to individual cases.



The Joint Commission was established in March 1992 by agreement between

Presidents Bush and Yeltsin to determine the fates of American servicemen

1rom World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War who

may still be missing on the territory of the former Soviet Union or about

whom the Russians may have information.  The commission also has an

objective to assist the Russians in learning about the fates of Russian

servicemen in Afghanistan.  The U.S. side of the commission is headed by

Ambassador Malcolm Toon.  Other members include Senators Bob Smith and John

Kerry; Congressmen Sam Johnson and Pete Peterson -- both former POWs in

Vietnam; Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA, James Wold;

president Joint Military Intelligence College, Denis Clift; principal

deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs,

Ambassador Peter Tomsen; Department of State director for Independent

States and Commonwealth affairs, John Herbst; and acting national

archivist, Dr. Trudy Peterson.  The Russian side, headed by General

Volkogonev, includes parliamentarians, the heads of the major archives, and

officials of the Ministries of Defense, Foreign Affairs, the Interior and

security services.



(End text)

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