[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 191 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 191

Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the 
Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters 
                        of the Second World War.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2005

     Mr. Hyde (for himself and Mr. Lantos) submitted the following 
     concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in the 
Pacific and honoring veterans of both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters 
                        of the Second World War.

Whereas on December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States 
        was suddenly and deliberately attacked at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, 
        resulting in the loss of over 2,400 American lives, the greatest such 
        loss of life in a single attack before September 11, 2001;
Whereas the United States joined with allies from 32 countries to fight the 
        common foe of fascist militarism in a war in which over 16,000,000 
        Americans served in the military;
Whereas the United States suffered over 670,000 casualties, with more than 
        400,000 deaths, while over 105,000 Americans were held as prisoners of 
        war, many of whom were forced to participate in the infamous Bataan 
        Death March or were forced to work on the construction of the Siam-Burma 
        Railway;
Whereas two former Presidents, John F. Kennedy and George H. W. Bush, served 
        with particular distinction and valor in the Pacific theater during the 
        Second World War;
Whereas the sea battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, Leyte Gulf--the greatest naval 
        battle in history--and Lingayen Gulf turned the tide of the war in the 
        Pacific and led to ultimate victory;
Whereas the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa, who lost five sons in a single 
        morning when the USS Juneau was sunk in the Battle of Guadacanal, came 
        to symbolize for the United States the grief felt by American families 
        over the loss of loved ones during the Second World War;
Whereas on May 14, 1943, the Australian hospital ship Centaur, in transit to New 
        Guinea to pick up the wounded, was sunk fifty miles East-Northeast of 
        Brisbane, Australia, resulting in 268 dead, representing the highest 
        number of casualties of any merchant vessel sunk by a submarine in the 
        Pacific theater;
Whereas General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise of ``I shall return'' to 
        the Philippine people by leading the successful campaign for the 
        liberation of the Philippines, part of a wider campaign which freed much 
        of Asia from militarist occupation;
Whereas more than 20,000 Japanese and 7,000 Americans died in the battle of Iwo 
        Jima, which raged on the small island of Iwo Jima for over one month 
        between February and March 1945, the fierceness of which was captured in 
        the historic photo of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the 
        American flag on Mount Suribachi;
Whereas the Battle of Okinawa, waged between April and June 1945, was the 
        largest sea-land-air battle in history, with more than 38,000 Americans 
        wounded and 12,000 killed or missing, more than 107,000 Japanese and 
        Okinawan conscripts killed, and perhaps 100,000 Okinawan civilians who 
        perished in the battle;
Whereas millions of people died in Hawaii, Guam, the Coral Sea, Midway, the 
        Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Wake Island, Guadacanal, Nanjing, 
        Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaya, 
        Indonesia, Burma, Bataan, Corregidor, Manila, Luzon, Leyte Gulf, 
        Lingayen Gulf, New Guinea, Korea, Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo, 
        Hiroshima, and Nagasaki;
Whereas the Second World War led to dramatic social changes in the United States 
        as more than 19,500,000 women joined the American workforce at defense 
        plants and 350,000 women joined the Armed Forces;
Whereas the roles of minorities in both the Armed Forces and industry were 
        changed forever as greater opportunities for employment and service in 
        the defense of the United States presented themselves;
Whereas Japanese-Americans, including Senator Daniel Inouye, served with courage 
        and valor in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated 
        regiment in United States military history;
Whereas the people of the United States and Japan worked together after the 
        Second World War to reconstruct Japan and to ensure the post war 
        emergence of Japan as a beacon of democracy and economic liberalization 
        in the Asia-Pacific region, and the United States and Japan further 
        solidified the post war security relationship by signing the Security 
        Treaty of 1951 and the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security in 
        1960;
Whereas the sacrifices in the Pacific of United States veterans and veterans of 
        United States allies during the Second World War led to the emergence of 
        an Asian region where democratic institutions and free market economies 
        have taken hold, contributing greatly to the peace and prosperity of the 
        region; and
Whereas, on May 29, 2004, the United States gratefully dedicated the World War 
        II Memorial, honoring both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters, on the 
        National Mall in Washington, D.C., with decorated World War II hero 
        Senator Robert Dole giving the dedication speech: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) honors all veterans, living and deceased, of the Second 
        World War in both the Pacific and Atlantic theaters on the 60th 
        anniversary year of the war's conclusion and expresses the deep 
        appreciation and gratitude of the United States for their valor 
        and selfless service to their country;
            (2) calls upon the people of the United States to 
        commemorate September 2, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the 
        final surrender of the Second World War aboard the USS 
        Missouri, as a day of remembrance and appreciation for the 
        members of the greatest generation who, through their 
        sacrifices both in the Armed Forces and on the homefront, 
        preserved liberty for future generations and rescued the world 
        from the scourge of fascist militarism;
            (3) reaffirms the judgment in Tokyo rendered by the 
        International Military Tribunal for the Far East of 1946-1948 
        and the conviction of certain individuals as war criminals for 
        their crimes against humanity; and
            (4) recognizes that the alliances formed in the Asia-
        Pacific region following the Second World War, including those 
        with Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, 
        and Thailand, have contributed immeasurably to the continued 
        peace and prosperity enjoyed throughout the region.
                                 <all>