[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 141 (Tuesday, October 31, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11425-S11426]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 158--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS 
   REGARDING APPROPRIATE ACTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO 
  FACILITATE THE SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS OF FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
 FORCES AGAINST JAPANESE COMPANIES THAT PROFITED FROM THE SLAVE LABOR 
  THAT THOSE PERSONNEL WERE FORCED TO PERFORM FOR THOSE COMPANIES AS 
             PRISONERS OF WAR OF JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR II

  Mr. HATCH (for himself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Conrad, and 
Mrs. Hutchison) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was considered and agreed to:

                            S. Con. Res. 158

       Whereas from December 1941 to April 1942, members of the 
     United States Armed Forces fought valiantly against 
     overwhelming Japanese military forces on the Bataan peninsula 
     of the Island of Luzon in the Philippines, thereby preventing 
     Japan from accomplishing strategic objectives necessary for 
     achieving early military victory in the Pacific during World 
     War II;
       Whereas after receiving orders to surrender on April 9, 
     1942, many of those valiant combatants were taken prisoner of 
     war by Japan and forced to march 85 miles from the Bataan 
     peninsula to a prisoner-of-war camp at former Camp O'Donnell;
       Whereas, of the members of the United States Armed Forces 
     captured by Imperial Japanese forces during the entirety of 
     World War II, a total of 36,260 of them survived their 
     capture and transit to Japanese prisoner-of-war camps to be 
     interned in those camps, and 37.3 percent of those prisoners 
     of war died during their imprisonment in those camps:
       Whereas that march resulted in more than 10,000 deaths by 
     reason of starvation, disease, and executions;
       Whereas many of those prisoners of war were transported to 
     Japan where they were forced to perform slave labor for the 
     benefit of private Japanese companies under barbaric 
     conditions that included torture and inhumane treatment as to 
     such basic human needs as shelter, feeding, sanitation, and 
     health care;
       Whereas the private Japanese companies unjustly profited 
     from the uncompensated labor cruelly exacted from the 
     American personnel in violation of basic human rights;
       Whereas these Americans do not make any claims against the 
     Japanese Government or the people of Japan, but, rather, seek 
     some measure of justice from the Japanese companies that 
     profited from their slave labor;
       Whereas they have asserted claims for compensation against 
     the private Japanese companies in various courts in the 
     United States;
       Whereas the United States Government has, to date, opposed 
     the efforts of these Americans to receive redress for the 
     slave labor and inhumane treatment, and has not made any 
     efforts to facilitate discussions among the parties;
       Whereas in contrast to the claims of the Americans who were 
     prisoners of war in Japan, the Department of State has 
     facilitated a settlement of the claims made against private 
     German businesses by individuals who were forced into slave 
     labor by the Government of the Third Reich of Germany for the 
     benefit of the German businesses during World War II: Now, 
     therefore, be it

[[Page S11426]]

       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that it is in 
     the interest of justice and fairness that the United States, 
     through the Secretary of State or other appropriate 
     officials, put forth its best efforts to facilitate 
     discussions designed to resolve all issues between former 
     members of the Armed Forces of the United States who were 
     prisoners of war forced into slave labor for the benefit of 
     Japanese companies during World War II and the private 
     Japanese companies who profited from their slave labor.

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