[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 971 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 971

  To increase the authorizations for the War in the Pacific National 
Historical Park, Guam, and the American Memorial Park, Saipan, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                May 18 (legislative day, April 19), 1993

   Mr. Akaka (for himself, Mr. Heflin, and Mr. Ford) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                      Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To increase the authorizations for the War in the Pacific National 
Historical Park, Guam, and the American Memorial Park, Saipan, 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 
        United States forces captured the Japanese islands of Saipan 
        and Tinian and liberated the United States Territory of Guam 
        from Japan;
            (2) an attack during this campaign by the Japanese combined 
        fleet, aimed at annihilating the United States 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 by the enemy 
        during World War II and restored United States Government to 
        more than 20,000 native Guamanians;
            (4) units of the United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, 
        and Coast Guard fought with great bravery and sacrifice, 
        suffering casualties of approximately 5,700 killed and missing 
        and 21,900 wounded in action;
            (5) United States forces succeeded in destroying all 
        Japanese garrisons in Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, which resulted 
        in Japanese military casualties of 54,000 dead and 21,900 taken 
        prisoner;
            (6) Guamanians, notably members of the Navy Insular Force 
        Guard and volunteer militia, bravely resisted the invasion and 
        occupation of their island, and ultimately assisted in the 
        expulsion of Japanese forces from Guam;
            (7) at the hands of the Japanese, 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 eventually placed in concentration camps 
                and subjected to retribution when the liberation of 
                their island became apparent to the Japanese;
            (8) the seizure of the Mariana Islands severed Japanese 
        lines of communication between Japan proper and those remaining 
        Japanese bases and forces in the Central Pacific south of the 
        Mariana Islands and in the South Pacific as well;
            (9) the Mariana Islands provided large island areas on 
        which advance bases could be constructed to support further 
        operations against Japanese possessions and conquered 
        territories such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa, the Philippines, 
        Taiwan, and the south China coast, and ultimately against the 
        Japanese home islands;
            (10) the Mariana Islands provided, for the first time 
        during the war, island air bases from which United States land-
        based airpower could reach Japan itself; and
            (11) the air offensive staged from the Mariana Islands 
        against Japanese cities and economic infrastructure helped 
        shorten the war and vitiate the need for the invasion and 
        capture of the Japanese home islands.

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; and
            (2) the Secretary of the Interior should take all necessary 
        steps to ensure that two visitors centers to provide 
        appropriate facilities for the interpretation of the events 
        described in section 1 are completed, one at the War in the 
        Pacific National Historical Park and one at the American 
        Memorial Park, before June 15, 1994, the beginning of the 50th 
        anniversary of the campaign.

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

    Section 6(k) 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(k)), is amended by striking ``$500,000'' and inserting 
``$8,000,000''.

SEC. 4. AMERICAN MEMORIAL PARK.

    Section 5(g) 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. 492), is amended 
by striking ``$3,000,000'' and inserting ``$8,000,000''.

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