COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS

ROY J. BULLOCK, Staff Administrator

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS
CORNELIUS E. GALLAGHER, New Jersey, Chairman

LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana
CHARLES C. DIGGS, JR., Michigan
LESTER L. WOLFF, New York
ABRAHAM KAZEN, JR., Texas
JOHN W. DAVIS, Georgia
MORGAN F. MURPHY, Illinois

WILLIAM S. BROOMFIELD, Michigan
J. IRVING WHALLEY, Pennsylvania
VERNON W. THOMSON, Wisconsin
J. HERBERT BURKE, Florida
SEYMOUR HALPERN, New York
PIERRE S. DU PONT, Delaware

CHARLES P. WITTER, Subcommittee Staff Consultant
JEAN BROWN, Staff Assistant

(II)

CONTENTS

LIST OF WITNESSES

Page

38

18

39

3

Tuesday, June 22, 1971:

Dow, Hon. John J., a Representative in Congress from the State of
New York.___

McClory, Hon. Robert, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Illinois_-.

Montgomery, Hon. G. V. (Sonny), a Representative in Congress
from the State of Mississippi.---

Rosenthal, Hon. Benjamin S., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New York..

Wolff, Hon. Lester L., a Representative in Congress from the State of
New York..

Wednesday, June 23, 1971:

Buchanan, Hon. John, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Alabama___

Dow, Hon. John J., a Representative in Congress from the State of
New York.....

45

Matsunaga, Hon. Spark M., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Hawaii

87

Robison, Hon. Howard W., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New York..

66

Thursday, June 24, 1971:

Abourezk, Hon. James, a Representative in Congress from the State
of South Dakota_

145

Abzug, Hon. Bella, a Representative in Congress from the State of
New York........

136

Anderson, Hon. John B., a Representative in Congress from the State
of Illinois. - -

120

Leggett, Hon. Robert L., a Representative in Congress from the State
of California_

91

Pepper, Hon. Claude, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Florida..

133

Tuesday, June 29, 1971:

Bingham, Hon. Jonathan B., a Representative in Congress from the
State of New York..

152

Gibbons, Hon. Sam M., a Representative in Congress from the State
of Florida

197

McCloskey, Hon. Paul N., a Representative in Congress from the
State of California.

163

Ryan, Hon. William F., a Representative in Congress from the State
of New York.

210

Waldie, Hon. Jerome R., a Representative in Congress from the State
of California....

206

Wednesday, June 30, 1971:

Fraser, Hon. Donald M., a Representative in Congress from the State
of Minnesota....

219

Keith, Hon. Hastings, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Massachusetts..

228

Monday, July 12, 1971:

Green, Hon. Marshall, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs, Department of State..........

236

STATEMENTS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD

BY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Statement of Hon. Brock Adams, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Washington__.

Statement of Hon. Joseph P. Addabbo, a Representative in Congress from
the State of New York.

261

266

Statement of Hon. William S. Broomfield, a Representative in Congress from the State of Michigan..

2

Statement of Hon. O. Clark Fisher, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Texas__.

266

Statement of Hon. Joseph E. Karth, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Minnesota _ _

268

Statement of Hon. Romano L. Mazzoli, a Representative in Congress from the State of Kentucky.

270

Statement of Hon. Parren J. Mitchell, a Representative in Congress from the State of Maryland.

271

Statement of Hon. David R. Obey, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Wisconsin...

272

Statement of Hon. Albert H. Quie, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Minnesota_.

20

Statement of Hon. John R. Rarick, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Louisiana__

273

Statement of Hon. John G. Schmitz, a Representative in Congress from the State of California..

275

Statement of Hon. John F. Seiberling, a Representative in Congress from the State of Ohio..

277

Statement of Hon. Dick Shoup, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Montana..

279

Statement of Hon. Al Ullman, a Representative in Congress from the State of Oregon...

283

STATEMENTS AND MEMORANDUMS SUBMITTED
FOR THE RECORD

Table submitted by Congressman Rosenthal showing total allied casualties from 1969-March 1971..

7

Article from the Washington Post entitled "Viet Politicking: U.S. Plane,
U.S. Adviser and Thieu's Man".

26

Letter submitted by Congressman Wolff from Major General Edward G.
Lansdale, USAF Ret__.

30

Poll from Opinion Research Corp., Princeton, New Jersey, submitted by
Congressman Buchanan...

52

Report submitted to Congressman Buchanan by the Office of the Secretary of Defense concerning Vietnamization.

Article from the Washington Post entitled "VC Would Liquidate 3 Million
If It Won, U.S. Expert Contends".

Ren arks of Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President of Notre
Dame University-

Statement by member of DRV delegation and DRV press spokesman
Nguyen Thanh Le to Congressman Seymour Halpern_-
Transcript of Conversation between Congressman Seymour Halpern and
Nguyen Thanh Le, DRV delegation__

Statement by PRG deputy spokesman Nguyen Van Tien to Congressman
Seymour Halpern.---.

Transcript of conversation between Congressman Seymour Halpern and
Mr. Nguyen Van Tien, PRG delegation__

Transcripts of conversations with representatives of the North Vietnamese
and Vietcong submitted by Congressman Leggett, and press release
Text of H.R. 317, expressing the sense of the Congress with respect to the
proposed "proportional repatriation" plan for obtaining the release of
American prisoners held in Southeast Asia...

Article by Representative Robert L. Leggett entitled "How To Bring
Them All Home".

Letter addressed to Congressman Leggett from Mrs. Barbara R. Mullen, wife of a prisoner of war in Laos.

110

Information supplied by Congressman Bingham concerning French resolution on withdrawal from Algeria...

156

LEGISLATION ON THE INDOCHINA WAR

TUESDAY, JUNE 22, 1971

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 2:45 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Cornelius E. Gallagher (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Mr. GALLAGHER. The subcommittee will come to order.

I want to welcome you here this afternoon as the Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee opens the first comprehensive House hearings into bills and resolutions relating to ending the war in Indochina.

Today, we are hearing arguments of national security advanced over the publication of documents relating to the beginning and escalation of our involvement in the region. As important as national security may be, perhaps even more important to America is that the problems of Indochina are threatening our national sanity. Mistrust of our leaders past and present and disgust over the results of our policies are ripping apart the fragile fabric of our society and poisoning much of our national life.

As but one brief example which distresses me immensely this afternoon, the war in Indochina has so clouded our view of Asian affairs that we seem virtually immobilized in the face of the unprecedented human tragedy of East Pakistan.

The purpose of our hearing is not to perform a divisive exercise in name calling or guilt-ascribing over our past Indochina actions. I know of no people, inside or outside of the Congress, who want this war to continue. Who among us wants the killing of either Americans or Asians to continue? We are united in our desire to see our prisoners of war released from their cruel confinement.

So there are areas of agreement and positions around which men of good will can unite.

The question before us is not whether the war should end. The questions we are considering are when the war will end and how best to bring it about. What will the United States leave behind in Indochina as we conclude our combat role?

In light of the recent confirmation of our involvement in the overthrow of the Diem regime which disturbed the existing natural political balance, we created an inescapable moral commitment to the governments in Saigon which have followed. I opposed that decision at the time and we must now ask ourselves hard questions about America's legitimate interest in governments or the personalities in power in Saigon. I believe we must consider whether our current or postcombat policy in Vietnam and in all of Indochina should concern itself with

matters which, in my judgment, stimulated the first fatal steps into the quagmire.

The distinguished chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Honorable Thomas E. Morgan, has referred some 70 bills and resolutions to this subcommittee. We intend to begin our considerations with at least 4 days of testimony from Members of Congress. We invited not only those colleagues who are cosponsors of the various legislative proposals, but also those who have not, as yet, affixed their names to congressional initiatives.

We want to hear all views. If there are alternatives to the policies of this administration, let us hear rational debate. If there is a functional role for legislative solutions or legislative assitance, let it be discussed responsibly and with a tolerance of the obvious differences of opinions and attitudes which exist in the Congress and in the country.

I believe that President Nixon has already made the basic decision to end our military role in Indochina. Thus the basic issue at stake in these bearings is whether a fixed date resolution to force a conclusion will have a meaningful effect in carrying out that policy, or whether the reverse is true.

One final word: It is in the spirit of democracy and not in the spirit of dogmatism that I open these hearings today. It is a search for areas of agreement and not the search for cataracts of controversy that is the basic goal of the subcommittee's endeavors.

At this point, I would like to submit for the record a statement by the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, the Honorable William S. Broomfield, of Michigan.

(The statement follows:)

STATEMENT OF HON. WILLIAM S. BROOMFIELD, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

I commend the distinguished Chairman for calling these hearings before the Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, and I offer to him any assistance he may find necessary in their conduct. I believe that, in arranging these discussions, he has done a major service to the House of Representatives, the Congress and the nation as a whole.

By far the dominant impression I have received from my reading of the published accounts of our entry into Vietnam is the feeling that the policy-makers of those years regarded the entire problem as little more than an exercise in cold war strategy-a very important exercise, to be sure, but an exercise nonetheless. It seems that, in their fascination with the unique character of the war in Vietnam, these men were careless of one crucial consideration: that individual Americans would be asked to carry the burden of those strategic objectives and that many thousands of them would lose their lives in the process. Theirs was a common failure of those who govern, but, if Vietnam has taught us anything, it is that such failures can be tolerated no longer; that individual lives cannot be so needlessly sacrificed.

That is the approach I hope will be brought to these hearings. We can consider international strategy or national pride only after we have understood the feelings of those 500 men who will be asked to die in the next six months and those 1.500 men who have already lost years of their lives in enemy prison camps. These men must be foremost in our thoughts: their withdrawal from Vietnam and their release from enemy prisons our sole objective.

Perhaps I have oversimplified the problem, but if that serves to better focus our discussions, I willingly take the risk. There are human lives at stake here: no strategic consideration, whether it be the stabilization of the South Vietnamese regime or the maintenance of American influence around the world, can override that one basic fact.