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Union Calendar No. 476

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 755

[Report No. 106–815]

To amend the Organic Act of Guam to provide restitution to the people

of Guam who suffered atrocities such as personal injury, forced labor,

forced marches, internment, and death during the occupation of Guam

in World War II, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 11, 1999

Mr. UNDERWOOD (for himself, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr.

KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́

, Mrs. CHRISTIANCHRISTENSEN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. FROST, Mr. HOLDEN, and Mr. ORTIZ)

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Additional sponsors: Mr. HYDE and Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 11, 1999]

A BILL

To amend the Organic Act of Guam to provide restitution

to the people of Guam who suffered atrocities such as

personal injury, forced labor, forced marches, internment,
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and death during the occupation of Guam in World

War II, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Guam War Claims Re5 view Commission Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) Pursuant to the Treaty of Paris in 1898,

9 which ended the war between Spain and the United

10 States, the United States acquired sovereignty over

11 Guam.

12 (2) For 51 years, from the end of the Spanish13 American War until the transfer to the United States

14 Department of the Interior in September 1949, Guam

15 was administered by the United States Department of

16 the Navy, and the people of Guam were United States

17 nationals until August 1, 1950, when they became

18 United States citizens upon the enactment of Guam’s

19 Organic Act.

20 (3) On December 8, 1941, Japanese armed forces

21 invaded Guam and seized control of the island from

22 the United States, and occupied Guam which then

23 had a population of approximately 22,290, for nearly

24 3 years.
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1 (4) Guam was the only United States territory,

2 possession, or State with civilians present, which was

3 occupied by the Japanese armed forces during World

4 War II.

5 (5) During this period of Japanese occupation,

6 the people of Guam were subjected to death, personal

7 injury, forced labor, forced march, and internment.

8 (6) On July 21, 1944, the United States liber9 ated Guam from Japanese occupation.

10 (7) On June 9, 1945, in a letter from the Honor11 able H. Strive Hensel, Acting Secretary of the Navy,

12 to the Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House

13 of Representatives, Mr. Hensel transmitted proposed

14 legislation to provide relief to the residents of Guam

15 through the settlement of meritorious claims.

16 (8) On November 15, 1945, the Guam Meri17 torious Claims Act (Public Law 79–224) authorized

18 the Secretary of the Navy to adjudicate and settle

19 claims, for a period of 1 year, for property damage

20 occurring on Guam during the occupation of Japa21 nese forces. Certification of claims in excess of $5,000

22 or any claims for personal injury or death were to be

23 forwarded to Congress.

24 (9) On January 8, 1947, United States Navy

25 Secretary James Forrestal appointed a civilian com-
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1 mission, referred to as the Hopkins Commission, to

2 study and make recommendations on the Naval ad3 ministration of Guam.

4 (10) On March 25, 1947, the Hopkins Commis5 sion submitted a report (hereinafter referred to as the

6 ‘‘Report’’) to Navy Secretary Forrestal, which sum7 marized that settlements and payments for war dam8 aged claims on property, personal injury, and death

9 had proceeded slowly and stated that immediate steps

10 should be taken to hasten this process and to remove

11 unsound and unfair distinctions in the allowance for

12 claims.

13 (11) The Report also stated that when many

14 claimants were advised that the local Naval Claims

15 Commission had power to settle and make immediate

16 payments of claims not in excess of $5,000 but that

17 claims above that amount must go to Washington for

18 further action with an indefinite time required for

19 payment, they offered or agreed to reduce their claim

20 to below $5,000 and accept the loss above that

21 amount, in order to receive money for much-needed

22 personal rehabilitation.

23 (12) The Report recommended that the Guam

24 Meritorious Claims Act be amended to authorize
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1 Naval officials to provide immediate ‘‘on the spot’’

2 settlement and payment of all claims.

3 (13) The Report also stated that officials of the

4 Naval Claims Commission testified to the basic hon5 esty and fairness of the Guamanians in presenting

6 their claims, that review in Washington of claims be7 tween $5,000 and $10,000 did not seem to serve any

8 useful purpose, and that sufficient reliance and trust

9 should be placed with the Naval authorities in Guam

10 to safeguard the national interest.

11 (14) The War Claims Act of 1948 (Public Law

12 80–896), was enacted by the Congress to address vic13 tims of World War II.

14 (15) The War Claims Act of 1948 authorized the

15 creation of a commission to make inquiries and re16 ports to settle claims of American citizens and mili17 tary personnel imprisoned during World War II, ci18 vilian American citizens captured by the Imperial

19 Japanese Government, United States contractual em20 ployees, and religious organizations located in the

21 Philippines.

22 (16) Despite the recommendations from the Hop23 kins Commission to amend the Guam Meritorious

24 Claims Act, the War Claims Act of 1948 did not ad-
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1 dress the claims arising out of the Japanese occupa2 tion of Guam.

3 (17) In 1950, Congress passed the Organic Act

4 of Guam (Public Law 81–630), granting the people of

5 Guam United States citizenship and a measure of

6 self-government.

7 (18) On September 8, 1951, the United States,

8 along with 47 Allied Powers, signed a peace treaty

9 with Japan, in San Francisco, which waived all

10 claims of reparations against Japan by United States

11 citizens.

12 (19) In 1962, Congress passed Public Law 87–

13 846, which amended the War Claims Act of 1948 and

14 addressed the remaining United States citizens and

15 nationals that had not received reparations from pre16 vious enacted laws.

17 (20) The people of Guam were excluded from the

18 1962 law because Federal policymakers believed that

19 they were included in the War Claims Act of 1948.

20 (21) As a consequence, despite the study and rec21 ommendations of the Hopkins Commission, which

22 concluded that reparations for Guam as provided by

23 the Guam Meritorious Claims Act fell short of reha24 bilitating the island and redressing damages suffered

25 by its people from the occupation of Japan, Congress
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1 failed to address the recommendations of the Hopkins

2 Commission under the War Claims Act of 1948.

3 (22) On December 30, 1980, the Government of

4 Guam created a Guam Reparations Commission

5 which, among its other duties, compiled war damage

6 claims for death, forced labor, forced march, intern7 ment, or injury, from survivors or descendants who

8 did not receive any or full reparations under the

9 Guam Meritorious Claims Act.

10 (23) Since given the authority to be represented

11 in Congress by an elected representative in 1972, each

12 Delegate from Guam to the United States House of

13 Representatives has introduced legislation to correct

14 the historical flaws of the Guam Meritorious Claims

15 Act and the War Claims Act of 1948.

16 (24) Guam war restitution is long overdue.

17 (25) Congress supports the findings and rec18 ommendations of the Hopkins Commission and recog19 nizes the declining population of survivors from the

20 Japanese occupation of Guam in World War II.

21 (26) Congress finds sufficient cause to revisit

22 Guam war restitution by establishing a commission

23 to review the relevant history and to determine the

24 appropriate relief damages to eligible claimants, the

25 eligibility requirements, and the total amount nec-
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1 essary for compensation to the people of Guam who

2 experienced the occupation by Japanese military

3 forces in Guam from December 8, 1941, to July 21,

4 1944.

5 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION.

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a

7 commission to be known as the ‘‘Guam War Claims Review

8 Commission’’ (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’).

9 (b) MEMBERS.—The Commission shall be composed of

10 5 members who by virtue of their background and experi11 ence are particularly suited to contribute to the achievement

12 of the purposes of the Commission. The members shall be

13 appointed by the Secretary of the Interior not later than

14 60 days after funds are made available for this Act. Two

15 of the members shall be selected as follows:

16 (1) One member appointed from a list of three

17 names submitted by the Governor of Guam.

18 (2) One member appointed from a list of three

19 names submitted by the Guam Delegate to the United

20 States House of Representatives.

21 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The Commission shall select a

22 Chairman from among its members. The term of office shall

23 be for the life of the Commission.

24 (d) COMPENSATION.—Members of the Commission

25 shall not be paid for their service as members, but in the
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1 performance of their duties, shall receive travel expenses, in2 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with

3 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States Code.

4 (e) VACANCY.—Any vacancy in the Commission shall

5 be filled in the same manner as the original appointment.

6 SEC. 4. STAFF.

7 The Commission may appoint and fix the pay of an

8 executive director and other staff as it may require. The

9 executive director and other staff of the Commission may

10 be appointed without regard to the provisions of title 5,

11 United States Code, governing appointments in the com12 petitive service, and may be paid without regard to the pro13 visions of chapter 51 and subchapter II of chapter 53 of

14 such title, relating to the classification and General Sched15 ule pay rates, except that the compensation of any employ16 ees of the Commission may not exceed a rate equivalent to

17 the minimum rate of basic pay payable for GS–15 of the

18 General Schedule under section 5332(a) of such title.

19 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE.

20 The Secretary of the Interior shall provide the Com21 mission, on a reimbursable basis, such administrative sup22 port services as the Commission may request.

23 SEC. 6. DUTIES OF COMMISSION.

24 The Commission shall—
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1 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur2 rounding the implementation and administration of

3 the Guam Meritorious Claims Act and the effective4 ness of such Act in addressing the war claims of

5 American nationals residing on Guam between De6 cember 8, 1941, and July 21, 1944;

7 (2) review all relevant Federal and Guam terri8 torial laws, records of oral testimony previously

9 taken, and documents in Guam and the Archives of

10 the Federal Government regarding Federal payments

11 of war claims in Guam;

12 (3) receive oral testimony of persons who person13 ally experienced the taking and occupation of Guam

14 by Japanese military forces, noting especially the ef15 fects of infliction of death, personal injury, forced

16 labor, forced march, and internment;

17 (4) determine whether there was parity of war

18 claims paid to the residents of Guam under the Guam

19 Meritorious Claims Act with war claims paid to

20 United States citizens or nationals who lived in or

21 had holdings in foreign countries and other posses22 sions of the United States occupied by the Japanese

23 during World War II;
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1 (5) estimate the total amount necessary to com2 pensate the people of Guam for death, personal in3 jury, forced labor, forced march, and internment; and

4 (6) not later than 9 months after the Commis5 sion is established submit a report, including any

6 comments or recommendations for action, to the Sec7 retary of the Interior, the Committee on Resources

8 and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of

9 Representatives and the Committee on Energy and

10 Natural Resources and the Committee on the Judici11 ary of the Senate.

12 SEC. 7. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.

13 Subject to general policies that the Commission may

14 adopt, the Chairman of the Commission—

15 (1) shall exercise the executive and administra16 tive powers of the Commission; and

17 (2) may delegate such powers to the staff of the

18 Commission.

19 SEC. 8. TERMINATION OF COMMISSION.

20 The Commission shall terminate 30 days after submis21 sion of its report.

22 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

23 There is authorized to be appropriated $500,000 to

24 carry out this Act.
Union Calendar No. 476

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 755

[Report No. 106–815]

A BILL

To amend the Organic Act of Guam to provide restitution to the people of Guam who suffered

atrocities such as personal injury, forced labor,forced marches, internment, and death duringthe occupation of Guam in World War II, andfor other purposes.

SEPTEMBER 6, 2000

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union,

and ordered to be printed