WHEREAS 1,574 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam War, as well as 7,458 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, and 72,030 from World War II, though thousands from World War II are assessed as unrecoverable deep-sea losses; and

WHEREAS, the families and friends of unaccounted for Vietnam War Veterans, as well as countless fellow Veterans and other Americans, still await recovery and identification of their remains or clarity regarding their fates; and

WHEREAS, the Maine Needham was first introduced in 1872 by John Seavey, owner of the confectionary Seavey’s Sweets, which is rumored to have been located in either Auburn or Portland at the time; and

WHEREAS, named after a popular preacher of that era, George C. Needham, the Needham candy consists of a mashed potato center surrounded by coconut and chocolate; and

WHEREAS, there are over 340,000 adults with disabilities in Maine, making up almost a quarter of the state's population; and

WHEREAS, the disability community has a critical interest in policies and decisions made and enacted at the local, state, and national levels that impact their lives directly; and