[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13646-13647]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JAN THOMPSON

 Mr. KIRK. Mr. President, today I commemorate my constituent 
from Carbondale, IL, Ms. Jan Thompson, for her extraordinary work on 
behalf of American veterans. Ms. Thompson is a professor at Southern 
Illinois University and the founder and president of the American 
Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor--ADBC--Memorial Society. On Sunday, 
July 19, 2015, Ms. Thompson and ADBC had the historic responsibility of 
being offered the first Japanese corporate apology for forced labor

[[Page 13647]]

by American prisoners of war--POWS--during World War II.
  Over 900 American civilian and military POWs were slave laborers in 
four mines owned by Mitsubishi Mining Company Ltd. during World War II. 
Ms. Thompson, whose organization represents surviving POWs, their 
families, descendants, and researchers working on POW history, accepted 
on their behalf an apology offered by Mitsubishi Mining's successor 
company, Mitsubishi Materials.
  Thompson's father, Robert E. Thompson, was a Pharmacist's Mate aboard 
the USS Canopus--AS-9--a submarine tender moored in Manila Bay at the 
outbreak of the war on December 8, 1941. The tender was the only heavy 
ship left to service the submarines during the defense of the 
Philippines. The crew scuttled her the night before Bataan was 
surrendered on April 9, 1942 and escaped to fight on Corregidor Island.
  Robert Thompson attended to the wounded during the final month of the 
siege of Corregidor. Surrendering on May 6, 1942 in the face of great 
odds, he was assigned to the Bilibid Prison Hospital in Manila and 
survived the three ``Hell ships'' Oryoku Maru, Enoura Maru, and Brazil 
Maru.
  On July 19th, Mr. Hikaru Kimura, a Senior Corporate Executive of 
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Senior General Manager of Global 
Business Management at the Paint Finishing System Division of Taikisha 
Ltd delivered the apology at a ceremony held at the Museum of Tolerance 
in Los Angeles.
  I applaud Mitsubishi Materials' courage and good corporate 
citizenship. I ask unanimous consent that the statement of Jan Thompson 
be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:


 statement of jan thompson, president, american defenders of bataan & 
                      corregidor memorial society

                  delivered at the museum of tolerance

        simon wiesenthal center--los angeles, ca, july 19, 2015

       Thank you Rabbi [Abraham] Cooper for moderating today and 
     for having the Museum of Tolerance as the venue for today's 
     meeting.
       I thank [Ms.] Kinue Tokodome, Mr. [Hikaru] Kimura, Mr. 
     [Yukio] Okamoto and the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation for 
     inviting me to be a witness to this extraordinary occasion.
       I have known Kinue for many years as a dear friend and an 
     advocate for our former POWs. She has worked very hard over 
     the years to bring all of us together today for this 
     important event and she should be recognized for her 
     dedication and perseverance.
       I had three roles in the room: one role as a daughter of a 
     former POW, Robert E. Thompson; another role as a filmmaker; 
     and as President of the American Defenders of Bataan & 
     Corregidor [ADBC] Memorial Society.
       Being a witness today is meaningful to me.
       Seventy years ago our countries were at war and we were 
     enemies. Terrible things happen during war. Our 16th 
     President, Abraham Lincoln stated ``We cannot escape 
     history,'' and perhaps Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe was paying 
     homage by saying at his recent address to Congress: ``We 
     cannot avert our eyes . . .''
       For some former POWs an apology is important and they are 
     grateful.
       For others, the apology is 70 years too late. Unfortunately 
     for those who have passed away [they] were not able to hear 
     the moving words of Mr. Kimura.
       The mission of the ADBC Memorial Society is education and 
     to preserve the legacy of those who had been POWs of Imperial 
     Japan. Our mission is to preserve their history accurately. 
     We see this apology today as an acknowledgment that their use 
     of forced labor for Mitsubishi Mining violated their human 
     rights and their dignity. This apology is important to 
     silence those who deny these facts.
       It is obvious that this decision to apologize did not 
     happen overnight. It took people with the same mind, the same 
     goal, and the same courage to make this happen.
       Mitsubishi Materials Corporation should be a role model for 
     other Japanese corporations: to come forward and apologize. 
     We hope the citizens of Japan will support today's action. 
     The employees of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation should be 
     proud of their company.
       We thank Mr. Kimura for his sincere apology and we hope 
     today starts a relationship between the ADBC Memorial Society 
     and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation to further our goal of 
     reconciliation and education for generations to come.
       We see this apology as one very important step forward and 
     we cannot let what happened today die or be forgotten.


statement by mitsubishi materials corporation senior executive officer 
hikaru kimura in the meeting with a former american pow and families of 
                              former pows

       Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, speaking on behalf of 
     Mitsubishi Materials, thank you very much for this 
     opportunity to meet with you today at the Museum of 
     Tolerance.
       Mitsubishi Mining Company Limited, the predecessor of 
     Mitsubishi Materials, was engaged in coal and metal mining 
     during World War II. As the war intensified, prisoners of war 
     were placed in a wide range of industries to offset labor 
     shortages. As part of this, close to 900 American POWs were 
     allocated to four mines operated by Mitsubishi Mining in 
     Japan.
       I joined Mitsubishi Materials as a postwar baby-boomer and 
     have worked in the company for 34 years. I have read the 
     memoirs of Mr. James Murphy, who is present here at this 
     ceremony, and those of other former POWs, as well as records 
     of court trials. Through these accounts, I have learned about 
     the terrible pain that POWs experienced in the mines of 
     Mitsubishi Mining.
       The POWs, many of whom were suffering from disease and 
     injury, were subjected to hard labor, including during 
     freezing winters, working without sufficient food, water, 
     medical treatment or sanitation. When we think of their harsh 
     lives in the mines, we cannot help feeling deep remorse.
       I would like to express our deepest sense of ethical 
     responsibility for the tragic experiences of all U.S. POWs, 
     including Mr. James Murphy, who were forced to work under 
     harsh conditions in the mines of the former Mitsubishi 
     Mining.
       On behalf of Mitsubishi Materials, I offer our sincerest 
     apology.
       I also extend our deepest condolence to their fellow U.S. 
     POWs who worked alongside them but have since passed away.
       To the bereaved families who are present at this ceremony, 
     I also offer our most remorseful apology.
       This cannot happen again, and of course, Mitsubishi 
     Materials intends to never let this happen again.
       We now have a clear corporate mission of working for the 
     benefit of all people, all societies and indeed the entire 
     globe. Respecting the basic human rights of all people is a 
     core principle of Mitsubishi Materials, and we will continue 
     to strongly adhere to this principle.
       Our management team wishes for the health and happiness of 
     our employees every day, and we ask that all of them work not 
     only diligently, but also with a sense of ethics.
       Mitsubishi Materials supplies general materials that enrich 
     people's lives, from cement to cellphone components and auto 
     parts, all of which are closely related to people's lives. We 
     also place a strong emphasis on recycling for more 
     sustainable societies, such as recovering valuable metals 
     from used electrical appliances and other scrapped materials.
       Here in the United States, we have plants for cement and 
     ready-mixed concrete, and a sales headquarters for our 
     advanced materials and tools business, all in California, as 
     well as a polysilicon plant in Alabama. We believe that our 
     company provides fulfilling jobs for local employees and 
     contributes to host communities through its business.
       The American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Museum in 
     Wellsburg, West Virginia archives extensive records and 
     memorabilia of POWs. These records and memorabilia will be 
     handed down to future generations for educational purposes.
       I will visit the museum the day after tomorrow to view the 
     exhibits and visualize how POWs were forced to work under 
     harsh conditions. For now, however, I am pleased to announce 
     that Mitsubishi Materials has donated 50,000 U.S. dollars to 
     the museum to support its activities.
       Finally, I sincerely thank Ms. Kinue Tokudome and the 
     members of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor 
     Memorial Society for creating this opportunity to meet with 
     you today. I also express my sincere thanks to Rabbi Abraham 
     Cooper for offering the Museum of Tolerance as a venue for 
     the ceremony. And I express my deep gratitude to all others 
     involved in arranging this gathering.
       I would also like to thank the family members of a non-U.S. 
     POW [Mr. Stanley Gibson from Scotland, whose late father 
     James Gibson, a private in the Argyll and Sutherland 
     Highlanders captured in Malaya in 1942, was also a slave 
     laborer in the Mitsubishi Osarizawa mine] who have come from 
     very far away to attend this ceremony.
       I truly hope that this gathering marks the starting point 
     of a new relationship between former POWs and Mitsubishi 
     Materials.
       Thank you very much.

                          ____________________