[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 137 (Thursday, October 17, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1902]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COMMEMORATING DR. SHELDON HARRIS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 16, 2002

  Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the life of Dr. 
Sheldon Harris. Dr. Harris' most notable achievement was the exhaustive 
research and publication of his landmark study, ``Factories of Death: 
Japanese Secret Biological Warfare, 1932-45, and the American Cover-
Up,'' a timely and important historical document exposing human rights 
abuses and chemical weapons development. Dr. Harris passed away on 
August 31, 2002, leaving behind a wealth of knowledge and inspiration 
for countless students, researchers, and people interested in 
historical justice.
  Dr. Harris was bom in Brooklyn, New York, and educated at Brooklyn 
College, Harvard, and Columbia University. He went on to teach history 
at the University of Massachusetts, Cal State-Northridge, and the 
University of California at Los Angeles. As part of an academic 
exchange program in China in the mid-1980s, Dr. Harris became aware of 
large-scale biological warfare experiments conducted in China during 
World War II. After some preliminary research and informal interviews 
with colleagues, it became apparent to Dr. Sheldon that a special 
Japanese army unit had carried out biological warfare experiments that 
cost the lives of not only thousands of military prisoners, but also 
Chinese civilians. He then began studying recently declassified U.S. 
military records addressing the experiments and their results, as well 
as other written resources in various Asian languages. Certain 
interests in the U.S. military diligently guarded the records Dr. 
Sheldon requested, while the Japanese government simply denied any 
knowledge or involvement pertaining to the issue. In spite of these 
roadblocks, Dr. Harris continued his research and his pursuit of the 
truth.
  By 1994, Dr. Harris was ready to share his research with the world. 
He published ``Factories of Death'' based on years of study, travel, 
and interviews. The book is as influential as it is unsettling. Dr. 
Harris established as fact that Unit 731 of the Japanese Army tested 
live human beings, both military and civilians, with agents such as 
anthrax, dysentery, cholera, and typhoid. Throughout the Japanese 
occupied region of Manchuria, guarded buildings were erected to host 
the experiments, as well as the incarceration and eventual execution of 
the prisoners held there. Sometimes, neighboring villages would be 
infected outright with various germs, then burned to the ground once 
the inhabitants were overcome with the symptoms.
  According to Dr. Harris' research, the men in charge of these 
experiments and mass exterminations escaped prosecution as part of a 
deal made with certain U.S. intelligence agencies. In exchange for the 
data from the experiments, the leaders of the biological weapons 
programs received complete immunity--an exchange that was kept secret 
within the highest levels of the international intelligence community. 
During the decades that followed, the Japanese government denied any 
involvement with the experiments carried out in China; U.S. 
intelligence kept the data secret and stonewalled outsiders pursuing 
it. These policies have been largely maintained to this day, but in a 
remarkable turn of events, a Japanese court finally proclaimed that 
Japan's government had been involved in developing biological weapons 
in China from 1932-45. The court's decision, based in part on Dr. 
Harris' work, was delivered four days before Dr. Harris' death.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House to join me in honoring 
Dr. Sheldon Harris and the important work he has done for the 
international community. He was never vindictive in his efforts to 
bring closure to those hurt by this horrible chapter of human history. 
His harsh indictment against chemical weapons is relevant to all 
peoples and governments, as it extracts a meaningful lesson from so 
much senseless violence and cruelty. The importance of Dr. Harris' work 
may be demonstrated again and again as the issue of biological weapons 
is addressed today and in the future.

                          ____________________