[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 155 (Friday, December 15, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H12509]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 EXPRESSING SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING APPROPRIATE ACTIONS OF UNITED 
STATES GOVERNMENT TO FACILITATE SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS OF FORMER MEMBERS 
               OF ARMED FORCES AGAINST JAPANESE COMPANIES

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on International Relations be discharged from further consideration of 
the Senate concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 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, and ask for 
its immediate consideration in the House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate concurrent resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate concurrent resolution, as follows:

                            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
       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.

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution sets out the sense of 
Congress that the United States Government should support ex-Prisoners 
of War held by Japan who were slave laborers in their effort to obtain 
an apology and just compensation for the period they suffered in Japan.
  They suffered months of forced labor, beatings, and starvation; many 
of their fellow-prisoners, of course, did not survive.
  As a veteran of the Japanese theater in World War II, I, together 
with my contemporaries look at our comrades who were held as slave 
laborers and readily say ``there but for the grade of God to I.''
  But everyone who values freedom should put themselves in the shoes of 
those valiant survivors. I am gratified that my friend, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Hunter), has led this fight. What would we ask for 
in their position?
  We are not legislating a solution. We are asking that the 
Administration devote itself, in the time remaining in the lives of 
these brave men, to facilitating the discussions they are seeking.
  I hope that the strong support that this resolution will surely gain 
today will send a signal both to the Administration and to Tokyo.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the Senate concurrent 
resolution.
  The Senate concurrent resolution was concurred in.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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