[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4148-4149]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 109--ACKNOWLEDGING AND HONORING BRAVE YOUNG MEN FROM 
    HAWAII WHO ENABLED THE UNITED STATES TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN 
JURISDICTION IN REMOTE EQUATORIAL ISLANDS AS PROLONGED CONFLICT IN THE 
                      PACIFIC LED TO WORLD WAR II

  Mr. SCHATZ (for himself and Ms. Hirono) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                              S. Res. 109

       Whereas in the mid-19th century, the Guano Islands Act (48 
     U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) enabled companies from the United States 
     to mine guano from a number of islands in the Equatorial 
     Pacific;
       Whereas after several decades, when the guano was depleted, 
     the companies abandoned mining activities, and the control of 
     the islands by the United States diminished and left the 
     islands vulnerable to exploitation by other nations;
       Whereas the Far East during the late 19th century and early 
     20th century was characterized by colonial conflicts and 
     Japanese expansionism;
       Whereas the 1930s marked the apex of the sphere of 
     influence of Imperial Japan in the Far East;
       Whereas military and commercial interest in Central Pacific 
     air routes between Australia and California led to a desire 
     by the United States to claim the islands of Howland, Baker, 
     and Jarvis, although the ownership of the islands was 
     unclear;
       Whereas in 1935, a secret Department of Commerce 
     colonization plan was instituted, aimed at placing citizens 
     of the United States as colonists on the remote islands of 
     Howland, Baker, and Jarvis;
       Whereas to avoid conflicts with international law, which 
     prevented colonization by active military personnel, the 
     United States sought the participation of furloughed military 
     personnel and Native Hawaiian civilians in the colonization 
     project;
       Whereas William T. Miller, Superintendent of Airways at the 
     Department of Commerce, was appointed to lead the 
     colonization project, traveled to Hawaii in February 1935, 
     met with Albert F. Judd, Trustee of Kamehameha Schools and 
     the Bishop Museum, and agreed that recent graduates and 
     students of the Kamehameha School for Boys would make ideal 
     colonists for the project;
       Whereas the ideal Hawaiian candidates were candidates who 
     could ``fish in the native manner, swim excellently, handle a 
     boat, be disciplined, friendly, and unattached'';
       Whereas on March 30, 1935, the United States Coast Guard 
     Cutter Itasca departed from Honolulu Harbor in great secrecy 
     with 6 young Hawaiian men aboard, all recent graduates of 
     Kamehameha Schools, and 12 furloughed Army personnel, whose 
     purpose was to occupy the barren islands of Howland, Baker, 
     and Jarvis in teams of 5 for 3 months;
       Whereas in June 1935, after a successful first tour, the 
     furloughed Army personnel were ordered off the islands and 
     replaced with additional Kamehameha Schools alumni, thus 
     leaving the islands under the exclusive occupation of the 4 
     Native Hawaiians on each island;
       Whereas the duties of the colonists while on the island 
     were to record weather conditions, cultivate plants, maintain 
     a daily log, record the types of fish that were caught, 
     observe bird life, and collect specimens for the Bishop 
     Museum;
       Whereas the successful year-long occupation by the 
     colonists directly enabled President Franklin D. Roosevelt to 
     issue Executive Order 7368 on May 13, 1936, which proclaimed 
     that the islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis were under the 
     jurisdiction of the United States;
       Whereas multiple Federal agencies vied for the right to 
     administer the colonization project, including the Department 
     of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and the Navy 
     Department, but jurisdiction was ultimately granted to the 
     Department of the Interior;
       Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the 
     colonization project emphasized weather data and radio 
     communication, which brought about the recruitment of a 
     number of Asian radiomen and aerologists;
       Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the 
     colonization project also expanded beyond the Kamehameha 
     Schools to include Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians from other 
     schools in Hawaii;
       Whereas in March of 1938 the United States also claimed and 
     colonized the islands of Canton and Enderbury, maintaining 
     that the colonization was in furtherance of commercial 
     aviation and not for military purposes;
       Whereas the risk of living on the remote islands meant that 
     emergency medical care was not less than 5 days away, and the 
     distance proved fatal for Carl Kahalewai, who died on October 
     8, 1938, en route to Honolulu after his appendix ruptured on 
     Jarvis island;
       Whereas other life-threatening injuries occurred, including 
     in 1939, when Manuel Pires had appendicitis, and in 1941, 
     when an explosion severely burned Henry Knell and Dominic 
     Zagara;
       Whereas in 1940, when the issue of discontinuing the 
     colonization project was raised, the Navy acknowledged that 
     the islands were ``probably worthless to commercial 
     aviation'' but advocated for ``continued occupation'' because 
     the islands could serve as ``bases from a military 
     standpoint'';
       Whereas although military interests justified continued 
     occupation of the islands, the colonists were never informed 
     of the true nature of the project, nor were the colonists 
     provided with weapons or any other means of self-defense;
       Whereas in June of 1941, when much of Europe was engaged in 
     World War II and Imperial Japan was establishing itself in 
     the Pacific, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District 
     recognized the ``tension in the Western Pacific'' and 
     recommended the evacuation of the colonists, but his request 
     was denied;
       Whereas on December 8, 1941, Howland Island was attacked by 
     a fleet of Japanese twin-engine bombers, and the attack 
     killed Hawaiian colonists Joseph Keliihananui and Richard 
     Whaley;
       Whereas in the ensuing weeks, Japanese submarine and 
     military aircraft continued to target the islands of Howland, 
     Baker, and Jarvis, jeopardizing the lives of the remaining 
     colonists;
       Whereas the United States Government was unaware of the 
     attacks on the islands, and was distracted by the entry of 
     the United States into World War II;
       Whereas the colonists demonstrated great valor while 
     awaiting retrieval;
       Whereas the 4 colonists from Baker and the 2 remaining 
     colonists from Howland were

[[Page 4149]]

     rescued on January 31, 1942, and the 8 colonists from Jarvis 
     and Enderbury were rescued on February 9, 1942, 2 months 
     after the initial attacks on Howland Island;
       Whereas on March 20, 1942, Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of 
     the Interior, sent letters of condolence to the Keliihananui 
     and Whaley families stating that ``[i]n your bereavement it 
     must be considerable satisfaction to know that your brother 
     died in the service of his country'';
       Whereas during the 7 years of colonization, more than 130 
     young men participated in the project, the majority of whom 
     were Hawaiian, and all of whom made numerous sacrifices, 
     endured hardships, and risked their lives to secure and 
     maintain the islands of Howland, Baker, Jarvis, Canton, and 
     Enderbury on behalf of the United States, and 3 young 
     Hawaiian men made the ultimate sacrifice;
       Whereas none of the islands, except for Canton, were ever 
     used for commercial aviation, but the islands were used for 
     military purposes;
       Whereas in July 1943, a military base was established on 
     Baker Island, and its forces, which numbered over 2,000 
     members, participated in the Tarawa-Makin operation;
       Whereas in 1956, participants of the colonization project 
     established an organization called ``Hui Panala'au'', which 
     was established to preserve the fellowship of the group, to 
     provide scholarship assistance, and ``to honor and esteem 
     those who died as colonists of the Equatorial Islands'';
       Whereas in 1979, Canton and Enderbury became part of the 
     republic of Kiribati, but the islands of Jarvis, Howland, and 
     Baker remain possessions of the United States, having been 
     designated as National Wildlife Refuges in 1974;
       Whereas the islands of Jarvis, Howland, and Baker are now 
     part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument;
       Whereas May 13, 2015, marks the 79th anniversary of the 
     issuance of the Executive Order of President Franklin D. 
     Roosevelt proclaiming United States jurisdiction over the 
     islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis, islands that remain 
     possessions of the United States; and
       Whereas the Federal Government has never fully recognized 
     the contributions and sacrifices of the colonists, less than 
     a handful of whom are still alive today: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) acknowledges the accomplishments and commends the 
     service of the Hui Panala'au colonists;
       (2) acknowledges the local, national, and international 
     significance of the 7-year colonization project, which 
     resulted in the United States extending sovereignty into the 
     Equatorial Pacific;
       (3) recognizes the dedication to the United States and 
     self-reliance demonstrated by the young men, the majority of 
     whom were Native Hawaiian, who left their homes and families 
     in Hawaii to participate in the Equatorial Pacific 
     colonization project;
       (4) extends condolences on behalf of the United States to 
     the families of Carl Kahalewai, Joseph Keliihananui, and 
     Richard Whaley for the loss of their loved ones in the 
     service of the United States;
       (5) honors the young men whose actions, sacrifices, and 
     valor helped secure and maintain the jurisdiction of the 
     United States over equatorial islands in the Pacific Ocean 
     during the years leading up to and the months immediately 
     following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry of the 
     United States into World War II; and
       (6) extends to all of the colonists, and to the families of 
     these exceptional young men, the deep appreciation of the 
     people of the United States.

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