[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 113 (Thursday, July 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1432-E1433]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


              INTRODUCTION OF THE GUAM WAR RESTITUTION ACT

                                 ______


                        HON. ROBERT A. UNDERWOOD

                                of guam

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, July 13, 1995
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation to 
address the mistakes that were made immediately following the 
occupation and liberation of Guam in World War II. My bill, the Guam 
War Restitution Act, would authorize the payment of claims for the 
people of Guam who endured the atrocities of the occupation, including 
death, personal injury, forced labor, forced march, and internment in 
concentration camps. I am introducing this bill today in honor of Mrs. 
Beatrice Flores Emsley, a great American and advocate of the Chamorro 
people and their struggle for recognition of their sacrifices on behalf 
of this great Nation during occupation of our island.
  Mrs. Beatrice Flores Emsley has been a leader in this effort, and the 
bill I am introducing is made possible to a large degree by her work 
over decades to see that justice is done. She is a legend on our 
island, and her story of courage and survival against all odds is an 
inspiration to our people. Mrs. Emsley miraculously survived an 
attempted beheading in the closing days of the Japanese occupation. 
She, and a group of Chamorros, were rounded up in the city of Agana and 
were slated for execution. She was struck on the neck by a sword, was 
shoved into a shallow grave and left for dead. When she regained 
consciousness, Mrs. Emsley crawled out and made it to safety. Her 
survival, and the survival of others at mass executions, was as if the 
Good Lord ordained that there would be people to bear witness to these 
events.
  Mr. Speaker, I regret to inform this body and this Nation that Mrs. 
Emsley is seriously ill at this moment on Guam. Our thoughts and 
prayers are with her today and with her family. I am introducing this 
bill to let her know that her work is appreciated, her courage is 
admired, and her love of her people is reciprocated by all those who 
know her. She has testified in hearings on the war restitution bills 
that I have introduced, and on a bill to establish a memorial on Guam 
in honor of our people as part of the 50th anniversary of liberation 
commemoration last year. Each time her testimony has been powerful and 
poignant. Each time she has affected all the Members of Congress and 
congressional staffers who listened to her story. And each time she has 
helped us to move war restitution forward. I respectfully acknowledge 
the work and contributions of Mrs. Beatrice Flores Emsley as I call on 
my colleagues to enact the Guam War Restitution Act.
  This is a year of commemoration as we look back 50 years to the 
Allied victory in Europe and the Pacific. This is also a year of 
healing for the remaining survivors and descendants of victims of 
wartime atrocities. While events such as the Holocaust receive vast 
media attention, there are other dreaded experiences that do
 not receive this attention and have not received proper restitution. 
Today, I introduce the Guam War Restitution Act that will compensate 
the American nationals on Guam who endured great hardship during the 
war and will help them to finally heal their wounds.

  This is not the first time I have spoken to this House and to the 
American people about the wartime atrocities that were endured during 
World War II by the people of Guam, and I will continue telling the 
Nation until we bring justice to these people. It is the job of this 
Congress to correct the oversight of past Congresses and show the 
Chamorros that their Government remembers and values the loyalty they 
demonstrated to the United States during World War II.
  From the invasion day of December 10, 1941, to liberation day on July 
21, 1944, Guam was the only American soil with American nationals 
occupied by an enemy; something that had not happened on American soil 
since the War of 1812. Throughout the occupation, the American 
nationals' loyalty to the United States would not bend. They even 
defied the occupiers by providing food and shelter for American sailors 
who had evaded initial capture by the enemy.
  In the months prior to the liberation, thousands of Chamorros were 
made to perform forced labor by building defenses and runways for the 
enemy or working in the rice paddies. Thousands were forced to march 
from their villages in northern and central Guam to internment camps in 
southern Guam. Everyone marched; old men and women, newborn babies, 
children, and the sick. They were marched to internment camps at 
Maimai, Malojloj, and Manengon, where they awaited their fate--many did 
not live to see liberation. Once the Japanese realized the end of their 
occupation was close at hand, they began to execute these victims of 
war, some by beheadings. Mass executions at Fena, Faha, and Tinta and 
other atrocities were committed by the enemy forces as their fate 
became apparent.
  There have been several opportunities in the past for Guam to receive 
war reparations; however, all failed to include Guam or did not provide 
ample opportunity for the people of Guam to make their claims.

[[Page E 1433]]

  The Guam Meritorious Claims Act of 1946 contained several serious 
flaws that were brought to Congress's attention in 1947 by the Hopkins 
Commission and by Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes. Both the 
Hopkins Commission and Secretary Ickes recommended that the Guam Act be 
amended to correct serious problems. Both also noted that Guam was a 
unique case and that Guam deserved special consideration due to the 
loyalty of the people of Guam during the occupation.
  The problems with this act include:
  The act allowed only 1 year for claimants to file with the
   Claims Commission. Many Chamorros were not aware of the Claims 
Commission's work due to language barriers, displacement from their 
homes, and misunderstanding of the procedures. Instead of speeding up 
the process, the deadline served no useful purpose except to deny valid 
claims filed after the December 1, 1946, deadline.

  It required that claims be settled based on prewar 1941 values. 
Therefore, property claims were undervalued and residents of Guam were 
not able to replace structures destroyed during the war.
  The act did not allow compensation for forced march, forced labor, 
and internment during the enemy occupation. Another law, the War Claims 
Act of 1948, allowed for compensation for American citizens and 
American nationals for internment and forced labor; however, Guam was 
excluded from this act even though it was the only American territory 
occupied in the war.
  It allowed death and injury claims only as a basis for property 
claims. This was another provision unique to the Guam law and an 
unexplained stipulation. The Guam bill, Senate bill S. 1139, was 
actually modeled on a claims bill passed for other Americans in 1943, 
the Foreign Claims Act. The legislative history for the Foreign Claims 
Act emphasized the need to address these claims. In a floor statement 
on April 12, 1943, in support of passage of this bill, Senator Barkley 
noted that, ``it is necessary to do this in order to avoid injustices 
in many cases, especially in cases of personal injury or death.''--
Senate Report 145, 78th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 2-3. The original 
language for S. 1139, following the Foreign Claims Act model language, 
allowed the Claims Commission to adjudicate claims for personal injury 
and death. But the language was amended by the Senate Naval Affairs 
Committee to ensure that the U.S. Government, and specifically the 
Navy, would not be setting a precedent or legal obligation for the 
Navy--Congressional Record, 79th Congress, 1st Session, pp. 9493-9499. 
However, these types of concerns were not raised for the almost 
identical situation of the Philippines or other American citizens or 
nationals when the War Claims Act of 1948 was passed by Congress.
  Finally, the Guam Meritorious Claims Act encouraged Chamorros to 
settle claims for lesser amounts due to the time delay in having claims 
over $5,000 sent to Washington for congressional approval. Again, this 
was a procedure unique to the Guam law. No such requirement existed for 
those covered under the 1948 War Claims Act. The net effect on Guam was 
that Chamorros with property damage over $5,000 would lower their 
claims just so that they could be compensated in some fashion and get 
on with their lives.
  These flaws could have been rectified had Guam been included in the 
1948 War Claims Act or the 1962 amendment to the act. Unfortunately for 
the Chamorros, Guam was not included.
  The Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed on September 8, 1951, by the 
United States and 47 Allied Powers, effectively precluded the
 just settlement of war reparations for the people of Guam against 
their former occupiers. In the treaty, the United States waived all 
claims of reparations against Japan by United States citizens. The 
people of Guam were included in this treaty by virtue of the Organic 
Act of Guam which gave American citizenship to the people on August 1, 
1950.

  The bitter irony then is that the loyalty of the people of Guam to 
the United States has resulted in Guam being forsaken in war 
reparations.
  So while the United States provided over $2 billion to Japan and $390 
million to the Philippines after the war, Guam's total war claims have 
amounted to $8.1 million, and the Guam War Reparations Commission has 
on file 3,365 cases of filed claims that were never settled. This is a 
grave injustice whose time has come to an end. It is our duty to bring 
justice to these people and their descendants; that is why I now 
propose the Guam War Restitution Act.
  Not only will this act provide monetary support to the survivors and 
their descendants, it will also assure them that the United States 
recognizes the true loyalty of the people of Guam.
  This act will provide for the Guam trust fund from which awards the 
benefits will be paid to the claimants. This fund will be established 
by a 0.5 percent surcharge on military sales to Japan and any gifts or 
donations of funds, services, or property.
  Luisa Santos, a survivor of the Tinta Massacre, once told me,

       I have fought hard and suffered, and no one has ever been 
     able to help me or my children, but justice must be done. 
     Even if you have to go to the President of the United States, 
     let him know that the Japanese invaded Guam not because they 
     hated the Chamorro people. The Japanese invaded Guam because 
     we were a part of the United States, and we were proud of it.

  Mrs. Santos passed away shortly after our conversation.
  Mrs. Emsley, in testifying before a House subcommittee on May 27, 
1993, ended her statement with the powerful plea of one who has 
survived and who daily bears witness to the suffering of the Chamorro 
people. Mrs. Emsley simply ended by saying, ``All we ask Mr. Chairman, 
is recognize us please, we are Americans.''
  We cannot wait and hope that the last survivors will pass away before 
any action is taken. This event will never be forgotten by the people 
of Guam, and the Government's unwillingness to compensate victims such 
as Mrs. Santos and Mrs. Emsley will only serve to deepen the wounds 
they have already incurred, and deepen the bitterness of the Chamorro 
people.
  I believe it is time to truly begin the healing process, and passage 
of the Guam War Restitution Act is the first step.


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