Statement of Honorable
Terry Everett
December 4, 1997
Thank you for coming.
As you know my Subcommittee has been looking into the process used by the Army to grant waivers to eligibility criteria for in ground burial at Arlington National Cemetery.
I've called this press conference because yesterday evening I learned that documents from the National Archives pertaining to the Merchant Marine Service of Mr. M. Larry Lawrence had been obtained by the news media.
Mr. Lawrence was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in 1996, after serving as ambassador to Switzerland, and is one of the waiver cases the Subcommittee has been examining.
None of those documents were provided to the media by the House VA Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.
However, the Subcommittee obtained official documents earlier this week from the U.S. Maritime Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard regarding these matters.
I have tried to avoid conducting this investigation in public, but with the knowledge that documents had been obtained by the media, I decided the best course of action is to let the public know about the subcommittee's most recent information on this very specific issue.
I would caution all interested parties to exercise the appropriate restraint and not jump to premature conclusions before the Subcommittee's investigation is completed.
I also hope my actions today will address White House claims that there is no basis in fact justifying the Subcommittee's concern over the waiver process at Arlington National Cemetery.
The documents I am releasing today come from the Federal agencies entrusted with the legal responsibility to maintain records of the U.S. Merchant Marine.
We have found that Mr. Lawrence's name does not appear in at least three locations where a reasonable person would expect it to appear in the records, given the claim that he served on the SS Horace Bushnell and suffered serious injuries resulting from the torpedo attack on that vessel which occurred March 20, 1945.
Again, I am not drawing any conclusions at this time, however it certainly gives rise to additional questions about Mr. Lawrence's service record and the waiver granted to him.
I am sending copies of these documents to the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State requesting a comprehensive review to verify Mr. Lawrence's Merchant Marine service.
At this time I would like to read the text of my letter to Secretary Cohen:
I will leave with you copies of:
I want to reiterate as strongly as possible that I refuse to be intimidated or deterred by attempts to derail this investigation.
The Subcommittee is rightly concerned about the integrity of Arlington and will continue our responsible investigation of the circumstances surrounding the granting of burial rights.
Our concern is for veterans and their families who still question the validity of the waiver process.
This is a nonpartisan issue and has been a bipartisan investigation.
Minority staff Member from the Committee have participated in our visits to Arlington National Cemetery and have been provided with copies of all the documents obtained to date.
We will continue to seek their active participation.
I tried to speak with the Subcommittee's Ranking Democratic Member, Congressman Jim Clyburn this morning, to tell him of my reluctance to make these documents public.
I know he shares my concern for all the families affected by this investigation, and understands that I feel compelled to proceed in this manner because the media already had some of the information about the torpedo incident.
It is important that the full scope of our investigation on this issue be fully understood.
Rather than drawing conclusions at this time, let me leave you with some of the questions that I believe these documents raise in respect to the waiver granted for Mr. Lawrence.
Did the State Department's background investigation for his appointment as ambassador verify Mr. Lawrence's service record?
If the State Department had verification of Mr. Lawrence's service record, why didn't they provide it to Arlington National Cemetery?
If the State Department never verified the service record, upon what facts did they base their waiver request?
Why does the State Department's account of the torpedo attack refer to Mr. Lawrence being thrown overboard when the ship captain's detailed account makes no mention of seamen being thrown overboard or recovered from the frigid arctic waters?
Why doesn't Mr. Lawrence's name show up in the Coast Guard's database on merchant mariners?
Why was the waiver for Mr. Lawrence granted, when his service record could not be verified by the Cemetery Superintendent, as had been done in all 80 previous merchant mariner burials?