Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives honoring the men of the USS Liberty, urging the declassification of all records relating to the June 8, 1967, attack, and affirming that the lives and safety of United States citizens and servicemembers shall be paramount in the conduct of United States foreign policy.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1406 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1406

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives honoring the men 
of the USS Liberty, urging the declassification of all records relating 
to the June 8, 1967, attack, and affirming that the lives and safety of 
  United States citizens and servicemembers shall be paramount in the 
                conduct of United States foreign policy.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2026

 Mr. Massie submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on 
 Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence (Permanent Select), for a period to 
      be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives honoring the men 
of the USS Liberty, urging the declassification of all records relating 
to the June 8, 1967, attack, and affirming that the lives and safety of 
  United States citizens and servicemembers shall be paramount in the 
                conduct of United States foreign policy.

Whereas, on June 8, 1967, the USS Liberty and her crew of 294 was operating in 
        international waters;
Whereas an unprovoked attack by Israeli warplanes and torpedo boats resulted in 
        the death of 34 Americans and the wounding of 174 others;
Whereas Israeli Mirage Jets conducted multiple sorties, attacking the USS 
        Liberty with rockets, cannons, and napalm, and following the air 
        assault, three Israeli motor torpedo boats fired multiple torpedoes, one 
        of which struck the Liberty on the starboard side;
Whereas eyewitness accounts from crew members of the USS Liberty testified that 
        3 lifeboats that had been launched in an attempt by crew to save the 
        most seriously wounded were machine-gunned by Israeli torpedo boats;
Whereas, upon receiving distress signals from the USS Liberty, the USS saratoga 
        and the USS america launched aircraft in response to the attack to 
        defend the Liberty;
Whereas all of the aircraft were recalled before they were able to assist the 
        Liberty;
Whereas, under the command of the severely wounded Captain William L. McGonagle, 
        the officers and crew of the USS liberty fought alone for 17 hours to 
        save their ship, care for their wounded shipmates, and overcome severe 
        battle damage, often placing themselves in extremely hazardous 
        situations with complete disregard for their own safety, until they 
        finally rendezvoused with the USS Davis, USS Massey, and USS Little 
        Rock;
Whereas, having suffered through the attack and subsequent recovery, the crew 
        were informed that under penalty of arrest, fines, and imprisonment, 
        they were forbidden to speak about the incident which further compounded 
        the effects of post-traumatic stress;
Whereas Captain Ward Boston, Jr., senior legal counsel to the Navy Court of 
        Inquiry reviewing the USS Liberty incident, in a signed, sworn 
        affidavit, attested that he and Admiral Isaac Kidd believed the attack 
        was a ``deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire 
        crew. . . that the Israeli attack was planned and deliberate, and could 
        not possibly have been an accident'', but were pressured politically to 
        conclude otherwise;
Whereas Admiral Thomas Moorer, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 
        wrote in a 1997 letter that he, ``never believed the attack on the USS 
        Liberty was a case of mistaken identity. That is ridiculous. . . Israel 
        knew the Liberty could intercept radio messages from all parties. . . to 
        the ongoing war. . . and that Israel was preparing to seize the Golan 
        Heights from Syria despite President Johnson's known opposition'', that 
        Israel wanted to prevent Washington from interfering in that campaign, 
        and ``the result was a wanton sneak attack'';
Whereas Admiral Thomas Moorer wrote, ``What is so chilling and cold-blooded, of 
        course, is that [Israel] could kill as many Americans as they did in 
        confidence that Washington would cooperate in quelling any public 
        outcry'';
Whereas Dean Rusk, former Secretary of State, wrote, ``there is every reason to 
        believe that the USS Liberty was identified, or at least her nationality 
        determined, by Israeli aircraft approximately one hour before the 
        attack. In these circumstances, the later military attack by Israeli 
        aircraft on the USS Liberty is quite literally incomprehensible,'' 
        Richard Helms, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said 
        he did not think there could be ``any doubt that the Israelis knew 
        exactly what they were doing,'' and Bobby Ray Inman, former Director of 
        the National Security Agency, ``flatly rejected'' the Israeli 
        explanation that the attack on the USS Liberty was a case of 
        misidentification, stating, ``it is just exceedingly difficult to 
        believe that [the Liberty] was not correctly identified'';
Whereas, during the attack, the USS Liberty flew a 5 x 8 and a 7 x 13 foot 
        American flag, with the English letters L-I-B-E-R-T-Y on the ship's 
        stern, making it distinguishable from Egyptian vessels; and
Whereas, despite the valor displayed by the crew of the USS Liberty and the 
        decorations awarded for their actions, many aspects of the attack and 
        its aftermath remain shrouded in secrecy and controversy: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the gallant service and sacrifice of the 
        crew of the USS Liberty in defense of their ship and fellow 
        sailors during the attack of June 8, 1967;
            (2) honors the lives, service, and memories of William B. 
        Allenbaugh of Baltimore, Maryland; Philip McCutcheon Armstrong, 
        Jr. of Detroit, Michigan; Gary R. Blanchard of Wichita, Kansas; 
        Allen M. Blue of Yakima, Washington; Francis Brown of Albany, 
        New York; Ronnie J. Campbell of Sevierville, Tennessee; Jerry 
        L. Converse of Puyallup, Washington; Robert B. Eisenberg of St. 
        Paul, Minnesota; Jerry L. Goss of North Vernon, Indiana; Curtis 
        A. Graves of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan; Lawrence P. Hayden 
        of Houston, Texas; Warren E. Hersey of Philadelphia, 
        Pennsylvania; Alan Higgins of Weymouth, Massachusetts; Carl L. 
        Hoar of Mount Vernon, Ohio; Richard W. Keene, Jr. of Batavia, 
        New York; James L. Lenau of Washington, Missouri; Raymond E. 
        Linn of Adamsville, Ohio; James M. Lupton of Shreveport, 
        Louisiana; Duane R. Marggraf of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; David 
        W. Marlborough of Waterville, Maine; Anthony P. Mendle of 
        Waterbury, Connecticut; Carl C. Nygren of Williamsport, 
        Pennsylvania; James C. Pierce of Clinton, North Carolina; Jack 
        L. Raper of Cedartown, Georgia; Edward E. Rehmeyer III of York, 
        Pennsylvania; David Skolak of Gary, Indiana; John C. Smith, Jr. 
        of Ithaca, New York; Melvin D. Smith of Alamance, North 
        Carolina; John C. Spicher of Tarentum, Pennsylvania; Alexander 
        N. Thompson, Jr. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Thomas R. 
        Thornton of Springfield, Ohio; Philippe C. Tiedtke of Santa 
        Cruz, California; Stephen S. Toth of San Diego, California; 
        Frederick J. Walton of Niagara Falls, New York, who died as a 
        result of the attack;
            (3) urges the President to declassify and make publicly 
        available all records, documents, reports, memoranda, 
        communications, photographs, recordings, transcripts, 
        intelligence assessments, operational records, after-action 
        reports, investigative files, briefing materials, diplomatic 
        communications, and internal communications of the Department 
        of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National 
        Security Agency, and any other department or agency of the 
        United States Government relating to the June 8, 1967, attack 
        on the USS Liberty; and
            (4) affirms that the lives and safety of United States 
        citizens and servicemembers shall be held paramount in the 
        conduct of the foreign policy of the United States and shall 
        not be subordinated to the interests of any foreign nation.
                                 <all>