[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 138 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 138

 Honoring National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day on April 9, 
  2017, and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the fall of Bataan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 25, 2017

  Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Daines, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. 
Rubio, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Booker, Mr. Brown, Mr. Manchin, Mr. 
  Sanders, Mr. Franken, Mr. Tester, and Mr. Blumenthal) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Honoring National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day on April 9, 
  2017, and commemorating the 75th anniversary of the fall of Bataan.

Whereas, throughout United States history, United States servicemen and 
        servicewomen held as prisoners of war have endured unimaginable cruelty 
        and unspeakable treatment at the hands of their captors in--

    (1) British prison ships floating in the harbor of New York City;

    (2) tiger cages in North Vietnam;

    (3) coal mines in Omuta, Japan; and

    (4) mine shafts in Berga, Germany;

Whereas many of these servicemen and servicewomen, while in service to the 
        United States, lost their lives as prisoners of war under cruel and 
        inhumane conditions;
Whereas United States servicemembers held as prisoners of war have--

    (1) endured situations few people of the United States can imagine; and

    (2) found courage in a darkness that other people of the United States 
will hopefully never experience;

Whereas National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day was established to 
        memorialize the surrender by General Edward P. King of 80,000 United 
        States and Filipino troops on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, 
        which led to--

    (1) the infamous Bataan Death March; and

    (2) nearly 4 years of brutal imprisonment and slave labor for the 
survivors;

Whereas, by May 10, 1942, over 11,500 soldiers from the United States and the 
        Philippines surrendered on Corregidor, a fortress island in Manila Bay, 
        and at various bases on islands in the southern Philippines, which 
        resulted in the largest surrender of United States soldiers in United 
        States military history;
Whereas, during World War II, over 26,000 prisoners of war from the United 
        States were held by Imperial Japan, of which an estimated 40 percent 
        died, and nearly \1/3\ of those deaths occurred on ``hell ships'' that 
        carried the prisoners of war to Japan to become slave labor in Japanese 
        companies;
Whereas the productive peace between the United States and Japan has produced a 
        model of reconciliation between former combatants;
Whereas, in 2009, the Government of Japan offered an apology to the United 
        States prisoners of war for the damage and suffering of the prisoners of 
        war in Imperial Japan;
Whereas, in 2010, the Government of Japan established a program for former 
        prisoners of war and their families to visit Japan and the former 
        prisoner of war camps; and
Whereas the former prisoners of war who have participated in the program 
        described in the ninth whereas clause have encouraged the Government of 
        Japan to partner with Japanese companies to continue the program as--

    (1) an international model of reconciliation; and

    (2) a permanent fund to support projects for remembrance, 
documentation, education, and exchange: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) honors National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day 
        on April 9, 2017;
            (2) commemorates the 75th anniversary of the fall of Bataan 
        on April 9, 1942; and
            (3) applauds the efforts of the Government of Japan toward 
        a historic apology for the maltreatment of United States 
        prisoners of war by Imperial Japan.
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