The Chairman. Did you tell them that?
Mrs. Oswald. In the words that I said before—I didn't come out and say I want my son home. But I implied that if he was an agent, that I thought that he needed to be home.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything about believing that your son might know full well what he was doing in trying to defect to the Soviet Union, he might like it better there than he did here?
Mrs. Oswald. I do not remember saying this. I know what I did say, and they agreed with me. I said—because I remember this distinctly. I said, "Now, he has been exploited all through the paper as a defector. If he is a defector"—because as we stated before, I don't know he is an agent, sir—and if he is a defector, that is his privilege, as an individual.
And they said, "Mrs. Oswald, we want you to know that we feel the same way about it." That was their answer.
Mr. Rankin. Did you say anything about possibly he liked the Soviet way of life better than ours?
Mrs. Oswald. I may have. I do not remember, sir. Honestly. I may have said that. I recall that they agreed with me, and they said, "We want him also to do what he wants to do."
So now this is January 2, 1961, is my trip to Washington. Approximately 8 weeks later, on March 22, 1961—which is 8 weeks—I received a letter from the State Department informing me of my son's address.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall that they assured you there was no evidence he was an agent?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir, there was no comment to that effect.