To say that we were disappointed to learn that neither of our Amendments were included in the NDAA cannot explain our frustration. As you may recall, our team had been working with the Ridge Group to advocate to congress to add two amendments; one amendment which would have added the names of the Lost 74 crew members to the Vietnam War Memorial wall and a second amendment designed to instruct the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct an analysis of the issues related to adding the Lost 74 names. Neither of the Amendments were included in the final version of the NDAA.

While not knowing exactly what transpired in the halls of congress this past week, what we understand is that after navigating the Armed Services Committee, concerns and questions on the amendments arose from the Energy & Natural Resources and National Parks subcommittee. We know that significant restructuring took place in this committee according to articles in the news, we believe this is where our amendments were dropped.

Indeed, this is disappointing! However, there are silver linings. First, this effort was supported or not opposed by Armed Services, a hurdle we had not overcome in the past. So, getting our cause in front of the other committees represents some level of progress. Second, we have been apprised that the Leadership of the Senate intends to submit a letter directly to the GAO that instructs the analysis to be completed. This approach is within the rules and does not require an amendment to the NDAA. Third, we also found out through the Ridge Group that the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund is not against adding the names to the wall.

There is still work to be done. As we have said in the past “We will not give up the fight to get the 74 names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.” We will re-group early in the new year, as we better understand the process for the congressional leaderships letter to the GAO and how to best engage with the new congress.