WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today applauded the U.S. Navy for recommending Captain Scott Speicher’s status remain Missing/Captured, signaling their continued commitment to Captain Speicher, his family and all those who wear the uniform.

Senator Roberts said, "I applaud the Navy for their determination to learn of Captain Speicher’s fate. Eighteen years ago, when Captain Speicher’s plane went down, mistakes were made. We have worked hard to see that we make it right for every man and woman in uniform and I am proud of the Navy’s continued efforts on Scott’s behalf. Semper Fi."

Senator Roberts has waged a tenacious fight to increase U.S. efforts to recover the pilot.

Captain Speicher was shot down on January 17, 1991, the first night of the Gulf conflict. Senator Roberts long has maintained that Pentagon officials did not adequately investigate the incident and improperly listed the pilot as Killed-In-Action. Even when intelligence data began to surface, little was done to set the record straight.

In July, 1999, Senator Roberts requested a formal Senate Select Committee on Intelligence inquiry. In May, 2000, Senator Roberts introduced legislation, later passed into law as part of the Fiscal Year 2001 Intelligence Authorization Bill, forcing the Pentagon and intelligence agencies to better handle cases of military personal Missing-In-Action (MIA).

In June, 2000, Senator Roberts requested that the Select Committee on Intelligence require the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency to conduct a full assessment of Captain Speicher’s fate. In October, 2000, Senator Roberts requested a change from Speicher’s status of Killed-In-Action to MIA, which was granted in January of 2001.

Then in March, 2001, Senator Roberts requested the Senate Intelligence Committee conduct a formal investigation into Scott Speicher’s case, which found that "Speicher probably survived the loss of his aircraft, and if he survived, he was most certainly captured by the Iraqis."

In February, 2002, Senator Roberts wrote Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld requesting the change in status from MIA to Prisoner-Of-War. In October 2002, the Navy agreed to Senator Roberts’ request to list missing Captain Speicher as Missing/Captured.

Senator Roberts is a former U.S. Marine, past Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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