[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1944 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.1944
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
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 the loyalty of the
people of Guam and the herosim of the American forces that liberated
Guam.
``(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) 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.''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.