[Congressional Record: March 23, 2000 (Extensions)]
[Page E400-E401]

 
    RECOGNITION OF TERRY WARD AS RECIPIENT OF DISTINGUISHED CAREER 
                           INTELLIGENCE MEDAL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 23, 2000

  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize an honor for 
distinguished public service being accorded today to Terry Ward, a 
former constituent of mine. The Central Intelligence Agency is honoring 
Mr. Ward for over thirty years of distinguished government service in a 
wide range of dangerous and sensitive intelligence assignments in 
Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
  Mr. Ward was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania and graduated from the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1961. Following ROTC training, Mr. Ward 
joined the U.S. military and joined the U.S. Embassy staff in Laos. In 
1964, Mr. Ward was transferred to the CIA's Western Hemisphere 
Division. During the next thirty years, Mr. Ward served his country 
honorably and well in numerous dangerous overseas assignments in Latin 
America.
  In my capacity as a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I met 
Terry when he served in Honduras. I saw first-hand how he contributed 
in significant ways to fighting the efforts of the Sandinista regime in 
Nicaragua to destabilize its democratic neighbors. Contrary to some new 
reports, Terry worked hard to ensure that U.S. assistance to the 
Nicaraguan democratic resistance was closely managed and appropriately 
directed. Today, Nicaragua is a democratic ally and trading partner of 
the United States in no small measure to the efforts of Terry and other 
officers who served in the CIA's clandestine service in Central America 
during the 1980s.
  As some may know, Mr. Ward was one of the subjects of a 1995 CIA 
Inspector General investigation into allegations of improper conduct by 
CIA officers in Guatemala in the deaths of U.S. citizen Michael Devine 
and Guatemalan terrorist Efrain Bamaca. The IG report, and a subsequent 
review by President Clinton's Intelligence Oversight Board found no 
information whatsoever that any employee of the CIA was either involved 
in the murder of Mr. Devine or in the disappearance of Bamaca. After 
the IG report was published, Mr. Ward was effectively forced to retire 
from government service by then-DCI John Deutch.
  When Dr. Deutch announced his disciplinary decisions regarding the 
Guatemala inquiry on September 29, 1995, he stated that Mr. Ward was 
``respected'' and ``otherwise had made important contributions 
throughout his career.'' Importantly, Dr. Deutch said that he intended 
that Mr. Ward's retirement would involve ``no loss of appropriate 
recognition for previous service.''
  Despite what you might have read in some newspapers during the past 
few weeks, Mr. Ward is one of the unsung heroes of the Cold War. These 
press accounts note that he served as the CIA's station chief in 
Honduras from 1987-89--what they don't say is that his efforts there 
and elsewhere in Central America during the mid to late 1980s 
contributed significantly to the strengthening of democratic governance 
in Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
  These unsung heroes of our intelligence community neither ask for nor 
expect the

[[Page E401]]

American people to know how they protect us from terrorists, narco-
traffickers and other threats to our nation's security. The CIA's 
recognition today of Terry Ward's honorable service to his country is 
long overdue and fully merited. I applaud DCI George Tenet for doing 
the right thing for our country and for those who bravely serve its 
interests in our clandestine service.

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