[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 85 (Wednesday, June 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               REMEMBERING THE WAR IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

                                 ______


                            HON. RON de LUGO

                         of the virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 29, 1994

  Mr. de LUGO. Mr. Speaker, last week, I took the floor to express 
concern about the administration's lack of response to the Delegate 
from Guam's efforts to have the sacrifices of the Marianas Campaign of 
World War II properly honored on their 50th anniversary.
  I urged that there be top representation at the commemoration he 
organized at Arlington National Cemetery and high-level participation 
in the ceremonies remembering the battles for Guam, the Northern 
Marianas, and Palau.
  I am now pleased to report that the efforts to obtain the 
administration's attention at a fitting level paid off. The Secretaries 
of the Navy and the Interior spoke at the services at Arlington which 
Congressman Underwood was joined in arranging by Resident 
Representative Babauta of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Commandant 
of the Marine Corps will go to the battle sites for the observances 
there.
  I feel strongly about remembering the suffering that the people of 
Guam endured during the occupation of their island by the enemy because 
it was so great, because they so defiantly maintained their loyalty to 
the United States throughout their oppression, and because issues 
relating to that history still have not been fully resolved.
  These issues have included the military's continued control of much 
more of the island than it needs to and the lack of recognition of the 
heroism and the heartbreak of Guamanians while captives of the enemy.
  Our new colleague from Guam is having notable success in addressing 
this situation.
  We have passed a bill to require that title to thousands of acres of 
land be transferred to the territory.
  He is conducting a series of conferences on the Federal control of 
land issue that have found the military willing to give up thousands of 
acres more.

  Guam's united leaders persuaded the Base Closure Commission that 
facilities on the island should not be consolidated, freeing up 
valuable property needed for development by the airport named for 
Guam's great first Delegate, A.B. Won Pat, who began many of these 
efforts.
  A monument paying tribute to all who sacrificed on Guam during the 
war is being constructed at the war in the Pacific National Park.
  Finally, I also want to note the reasons to also acknowledge what the 
peoples of the Northern Marianas and Palau went through during World 
War II.
  Their islands were controlled by Japan before the war * * * but not 
by their choice. Their islands were also the site of some of the 
bloodiest battles of the war * * * and they were caught in the middle. 
And the war also resulted in a relationship with our Nation which led 
them to choose to unite with our country in the case of the Northern 
Marianas and to more freely associate with us in the case of Palau, 
relationships which are to the benefit of both them and us.

            Low-Key U.S. Commemoration of Another ``D-day''

       Arlington, VA.--Pacific landing that hastened the Japanese 
     surrender in World War II were recalled Saturday at a subdued 
     ceremony in Arlington National Cemetery.
       Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Navy Secretary John H. 
     Dalton, and Gen. John Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint 
     Chiefs of Staff, and a crowd of nearly 400, mostly veterans 
     and relatives, attended the National Commemoration of the 
     50th Anniversary of the Liberation of Guam and the Northern 
     Mariana Islands.
       Veterans and Guam's congressional delegate has complained 
     about the lack of official attention to the Pacific. News 
     stories from Saipan contrasted the quiet commemoration in 
     mid-June of United States Marine ``D-day'' landings there 50 
     years ago with the 50th anniversary of D-day in Normandy, 
     France, earlier in June.
       Normandy drew President Clinton and other top allied 
     leaders while the highest government presence reported at 
     Saipan was U.S. military officers based on Guam.
       ``I am at a loss to explain to the people of Guam * * * to 
     the veterans of the war in the Pacific why their battles do 
     not deserve national recognition equal to the attention 
     heaped on those who fought in Europe,'' Robert A. Underwood, 
     Guam's nonvoting member of the House, said in a June 16 floor 
     speech.
       The same day, Underwood wrote Clinton he was disappointed 
     neither the president nor other senior officials would attend 
     Saturday's ceremony, and there would be no official 
     observance of the actual 50th anniversary of the July 21 
     liberation of Guam, the only inhabited U.S. territory 
     occupied in World War II.
       The participation of Babbitt, Dalton, and Shalikashvili in 
     the Arlington ceremony was announced almost a week later.
  


                       SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February 
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized 
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees, 
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This 
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate 
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules Committee--of the time, place, 
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or 
changes in the meetings as they occur.
  As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this 
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this 
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the 
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
  Meetings scheduled for Thursday, June 30, 1994, may be found in the 
Daily Digest of today's Record.

                           MEETINGS SCHEDULED

                                 JULY 1
     10:00 a.m.
       Finance
         Business meeting, to continue markup of proposed 
           legislation to provide national comprehensive health 
           care.
                                                            SD-215

                                JULY 12
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Defense.
                                                            SD-192
       Environment and Public Works
         To hold hearings on proposals to reform current policies 
           on floodplain management and flood control.
                                                            SD-406

                                JULY 13
     9:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
       Foreign Commerce and Tourism Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine current tourism policy 
           activities.
                                                            SR-253

                                JULY 14
     9:30 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold oversight hearings to examine the scientific and 
           technological basis for radon policy.
                                                            SD-366
       Rules and Administration
         To hold oversight hearings on the operations of the 
           Library of Congress.
                                                            SR-301
       Indian Affairs
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation relating to 
           Native American cultural protection and free exercise 
           of religion.
                                                            SD-G50

                                JULY 19
     2:00 p.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To hold hearings on S. 2230, to revise the Indian Gaming 
           Regulatory Act.
                                                            SD-G50

                                JULY 21
     9:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on issues relating to international 
           fisheries.
                                                            SR-253

                                JULY 25
     2:00 p.m.
       Indian Affairs
         To resume hearings on S. 2230, to revise the Indian 
           Gaming Regulatory Act.
                                                            SD-106