[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1944 Engrossed in House (EH)]

103d CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1944

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

 To provide for additional development at War in the Pacific National 
                Historical Park, and for other purposes.






103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1944

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
 To provide for additional development at War in the Pacific National 
                Historical Park, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) June 15 through August 10, 1994, marks the 50th 
        anniversary of the Mariana campaign of World War II in which 
        American forces captured the islands of Saipan and Tinian in 
        the Northern Marianas and liberated the United States Territory 
        of Guam from Japanese occupation;
            (2) an attack during this campaign by the Japanese Imperial 
        fleet, aimed at countering the American forces that had landed 
        on Saipan, led to the battle of the Philippine Sea, which 
        resulted in a crushing defeat for the Japanese by United States 
        naval forces and the destruction of the effectiveness of the 
        Japanese carrier-based airpower;
            (3) the recapture of Guam liberated one of the few pieces 
        of United States territory that was occupied for two and one-
        half years by the enemy during World War II and restored 
        freedom to the indigenous Chamorros on Guam who suffered as a 
        result of the Japanese occupation;
            (4) Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units 
        distinguished themselves with their heroic bravery and 
        sacrifice;
            (5) the Guam Insular Force Guard, the Guam militia, and the 
        people of Guam earned the highest respect for their defense of 
        the island during the Japanese invasion and their resistance 
        during the occupation; their assistance to the American forces 
        as scouts for the American invasion was invaluable; and their 
        role, as members of the Guam Combat Patrol, was instrumental in 
        seeking out the remaining Japanese forces and restoring peace 
        to the island;
            (6) during the occupation, the people of Guam--
                    (A) were forcibly removed from their homes;
                    (B) were relocated to remote sections of the 
                island;
                    (C) were required to perform forced labor and faced 
                other harsh treatment, injustices, and death; and
                    (D) were placed in concentration camps when the 
                American invasion became imminent and were brutalized 
                by their occupiers when the liberation of Guam became 
                apparent to the Japanese;
            (7) the liberation of the Mariana Islands marked a pivotal 
        point in the Pacific war and led to the American victories at 
        Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the south China 
        coast, and ultimately against the Japanese home islands;
            (8) the Mariana Islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian 
        provided, for the first time during the war, air bases which 
        allowed land-based American bombers to reach strategic targets 
        in Japan; and
            (9) the air offensive conducted from the Marianas against 
        the Japanese war-making capability helped shorten the war and 
        ultimately reduced the toll of lives to secure peace in the 
        Pacific.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) an appropriate commemoration of the 50th anniversary of 
        the Mariana campaign should be planned by the United States in 
        conjunction with the Government of Guam and the Government of 
        the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands;
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior should take all necessary 
        steps to ensure that appropriate visitor facilities at War in 
        the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam are expeditiously 
        developed and constructed; and
            (3) the Secretary of the Interior should take all necessary 
        steps to ensure that the monument referenced in section 3(b) is 
        completed before July 21, 1994, for the 50th anniversary 
        commemoration, to provide adequate historical interpretation of 
        the events described in section 1.

SEC. 3. WAR IN THE PACIFIC NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--Subsection (k) of section 6 
of the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize appropriations for certain 
insular areas of the United States, and for other purposes'', approved 
August 18, 1978 (92 Stat. 493; 16 U.S.C. 410dd) is amended by striking 
``$500,000'' and inserting ``$8,000,000''.
    (b) Development.--Section 6 is further amended by adding at the end 
the following subsections:
    ``(l) Within the boundaries of the park, the Secretary is 
authorized to construct a monument which shall commemorate, by 
individual name, those people of Guam, living and dead, who suffered 
personal injury, forced labor, forced marches, internment or death 
incident to enemy occupation of Guam between December 8, 1941, and 
August 10, 1944.
    ``(m) Within the boundaries of the park, the Secretary is 
authorized to implement programs to interpret experiences of the people 
of Guam during World War II, including, but not limited to, oral 
histories of those people of Guam who experienced the occupation.
    ``(n) Within six months after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Secretary, through the Director of the National Park 
Service, shall develop and transmit to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Natural Resources 
of the House of Representatives a report containing updated cost 
estimates for the development of the park. Further, this report shall 
contain a general plan to implement subsections (l) and (m), including, 
at a minimum, cost estimates for the design and construction of the 
monument authorized in section (l).
    ``(o) Within six months after the date of enactment of this 
subsection, the Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary of 
Territorial and International Affairs, shall compile and transmit to 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 
Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a list 
of names to appear on the monument authorized in subsection (l).
    ``(p) The Secretary may take such steps as may be necessary to 
preserve and protect various World War II vintage weapons and 
fortifications which exist within the boundaries of the park.''.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 1993.

            Attest:






                                                                 Clerk.