[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 31, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8466-S8467]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 1272. A bill to assist United States veterans who were treated as 
slave laborers while held as prisoners of war by Japan during World War 
II, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today with my co-sponsor, Senator 
Feinstein, to introduce legislation that will help a very special cadre 
of Americans, a group of Americans that, over 50 years ago, paid a very 
dear price on behalf of our country. The incredible sacrifice made by 
these Americans has never properly been acknowledged, and it is high 
time that they receive some measure of compensation for that sacrifice.
  On April 9, 1942, Allied forces in the Philippines surrendered the 
Bataan Peninsula to the Japanese. Ten to twelve thousand American 
soldiers were forced to march some 60 miles in broiling heat in a 
deadly trek known as the Bataan Death March. Following a lengthy 
internment under horrific conditions, thousands of POWs were shipped to 
Japan in the holds of freighters known as ``Hell Ships.'' Once in 
Japan, the survivors of the Bataan Death March were joined by hundreds 
of other American POWs, POWs who had been captured by the Japanese in 
actions throughout the Pacific theater of war, at Corregidor, at Guam, 
at Wake Islands, and at countless other battlegrounds.
  After arriving in Japan, many of the American POWs were forced into 
slave labor for private Japanese steel mills and other private 
companies until the end of the war. During their internment, the 
American POWs were subjected to torture, and to the withholding of food 
and medical treatment, in violation of international conventions 
relating to the protection of prisoners of war.
  More than 50 years have passed since the atrocities occurred, yet our 
veterans are still waiting for accountability and justice. 
Unfortunately, global political and security needs of the time often 
overshadowed their legitimate claims for justice, and these former POWs 
were once again asked to sacrifice for their country. Following the end 
of the war, for example, our government instructed many of the POWs 
held by Japan not to discuss their experiences and treatment. Some were 
even asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. Consequently, many 
Americans remain unaware of the atrocities that took place and the 
suffering our POWs endured.

  Finally, after more than 50 years, a new effort is underway to seek 
compensation for the POWs from the private Japanese companies which 
profited from their labor.
  Let me say at the outset, that this is not a dispute with the 
Japanese people and these are not claims against the Japanese 
government. Rather, these are private claims against the private 
Japanese companies that profited from the slave labor of our American 
soldiers who they held as prisoners. These are the same types of claims 
raised by survivors of the Holocaust against the private German 
corporations who forced them into labor.
  Here in the Senate, we have been doing what we can to help these 
former prisoners of war. In June of last year, the Senate Judiciary 
Committee held a hearing on the claims being made by the former 
American POWs against the private Japanese companies, to determine 
whether the executive branch had been doing everything in its power to 
secure justice for these valiant men.
  In the fall of last year, with the invaluable assistance of Senator 
Feinstein, we were able to pass legislation declassifying thousands of 
Japanese Imperial Army records held by the U.S. government, to assist 
the POW's in the pursuit of their claims.
  We can do even more. Recently, the State of California passed 
legislation extending the statute of limitations, under state law, to 
allow the POWs to bring monetary claims against the Japanese 
corporations that unlawfully employed them. Other States are 
contemplating such legislation.

[[Page S8467]]

  The bill we are introducing today makes clear that any claims brought 
in state court, and subsequently removed to Federal court, will still 
have the benefit of the extended statute of limitations enacted by the 
state legislatures.
  The legislators in California, and other States, have recognized the 
fairness of the allowing these claims to proceed for a decision on the 
merits. In light of the tangled history of this issue, including the 
role played by the U.S. government in discouraging these valiant men 
from pursuing their just claims, it is simply unfair to deny these men 
their day in court because their claims have supposedly grown stale.
  These claims are not stale in their ability to inspire admiration for 
the men who survived this ordeal. These claims are not stale in their 
ability to inspire indignation against the corporations who flouted 
international standards of decency.
  The statute of limitations should not be permitted to cut off these 
claims before they can be heard on the merits. Today's bill does 
nothing more than ensure that these valiant men receive their fair day 
in court.
  I hope my fellow Senators will join with me, and with Senator 
Feinstein, on this important legislation. These heroes of World War II 
have waited too long for a just resolution of their claims.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise alongside my colleague from 
Utah, Senator Hatch, to introduce the ``POW Assistance Act of 2001''.
  This legislation makes an important statement in support of the many 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces who were used as slave labor by 
Japanese companies during the Second World War or subject to chemical 
and biological warfare experiments in Japanese POW camps.
  The core of this bill is a clarification that in any pending lawsuit 
brought by former POWs against Japanese corporations, or any lawsuits 
which might be filed in the future, the Federal court shall apply the 
applicable statute of limitations of the State in which the action was 
brought.
  This legislation is important because a recently enacted California 
law enables victims of WWII slave labor to seek damages up to the year 
2010 against responsible Japanese companies, just as any citizen can 
sue a private company. Seventeen lawsuits have been filed on behalf of 
former POWs who survived forced labor, beatings, and starvation at the 
hands of Japanese companies. By asking Federal judges to look to the 
State statute of limitation, this legislation sends a clear message to 
the courts that we believe that suits with merit should not be 
precluded.
  Today, too many Americans and Japanese do not know that American POWs 
performed forced labor for Japanese companies during the war.
  American POWs, including those who had been forced through the Bataan 
Death March, were starved and denied adequate medical care and were 
forced to perform slave labor for private Japanese companies. American 
POWs toiled in mines, factories, shipyards, and steel mills. Many POWs 
worked virtually every day for 10 hours or more, often under extremely 
dangerous working conditions. They were starved and denied adequate 
medical care. Even today, many survivors still suffer from health 
problems directly tied to their slave labor.
  It is critical that we do not forget the heroism and sacrifice of the 
POWs, and that the United States government does not stand in the way 
of their pursuit of recognition and compensation. They have never 
received an apology or payment from the companies that enslaved them, 
many of which are still in existence today.
  The bill that Senator Hatch and I have introduced today does not 
prejudice the outcome of the lawsuits which are pending one way or 
another. The legislation we have introduced today simply holds that the 
lawsuits filed in California, or any which may still be filed under the 
California statute of limitations, should be allowed to go forward so 
that this issue can be settled definitively, without impeding the right 
of the POWs to pursue justice.
  One of my most important goals in the Senate has been to see the 
development of a Pacific Rim community that is peaceful and stable. And 
I am pleased that the Government of Japan today is a close ally and 
good friend of the United States, and a responsible member of the 
international community.
  And I want to clarify that this legislation is not directed at the 
people or government of Japan. The POWs and veterans are only seeking 
justice from the private companies that enslaved them, and this 
legislation has been designed in the interest of allowing these claims 
to move forward.
  But I also believe that if Japan is to play a greater role in the 
international community it is important for Japan, the United States, 
and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region to be able to reconcile 
interpretations of memory and history, especially of the Second World 
War. If, as Gerrit Gong has written, Japan aspires to be a normal 
country, this question of ``remembering and forgetting'' is critical if 
Japan hopes to forge an environment in which its neighbors ``do not 
object to that country's engaging in a full range of international 
activities and capabilities.''
  The goal of this legislation is to remove this outstanding issue in 
U.S.-Japan relations, and to try to heal wounds that still remain. I 
hope that the Senate will see fit to support this bill.
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