[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1650]
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

                         Friday, August 4, 1995
  Mr. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, I have introduced legislation on July 13 
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, H.R. 2041, 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. The bill was reintroduced last month 
in honor of Mrs. Beatrice Flores Emsley, a great American and advocate 
of the Chamorro people, the indigenous people of Guam, 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 
Guam War Restitution Act was 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.
  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 and as we approach the 50th 
anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific. This is also a year 
of healing for the remaining survivors and descendants of victims of 
wartime atrocities.
  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 loyalty of our 
people to the United States would not bend.
  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 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 
commit horrendous atrocities including mass executions at Fena, Faha, 
and Tinta.
  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.
  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.
  These flaws could have been rectified had Guam been included in the 
1948 War Claims Act or the 1962 amendment to that act. Unfortunately 
for the Chamorros, Guam was not included.
  The Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed on September 8, 1951, by the 
United States, 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 bitter irony then is that the 
loyalty of the people of Guam to the United States has resulted in Guam 
being left out in war reparations.
  So while the United States provided over $2.0 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.
  The Guam War Restitution Act, H.R. 2041, will compensate the victims 
and survivors of the occupation, and it will assure them that the 
United States recognizes the true loyalty of the people of Guam.
  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 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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