II

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1154

To preserve certain actions brought in Federal court against Japanese defendants by members of the United States Armed Forces held by Japan

as prisoners of war during World War II.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 29, 2001

Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire (for himself and Mr. WARNER) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the

Judiciary

A BILL

To preserve certain actions brought in Federal court against

Japanese defendants by members of the United States

Armed Forces held by Japan as prisoners of war during

World War II.

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 ‘‘Justice for United

5 States Prisoners of War Act of 2001’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:
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1 (1) During World War II, members of the

2 United States Armed Forces held as prisoners of

3 war by Japan were forced to provide labor for Japa4 nese privately owned corporations in functions unre5 lated to the prosecution of the war.

6 (2) International law, including international

7 conventions relating to the protection of prisoners of

8 war, was violated when these Japanese

9 corporations—

10 (A) failed to pay wages to captured United

11 States servicemembers for their labor;

12 (B) allowed and promoted torture and mis13 treatment of captured United States

14 servicemembers; and

15 (C) withheld food and medical treatment

16 from captured United States servicemembers.

17 (3) In the Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed

18 at San Francisco September 8, 1951 (3 UST 3169),

19 the Government of Japan admitted liability for ille20 gal conduct toward the Allied Powers and, in par21 ticular, liability for illegal and inhumane conduct to22 ward members of the armed forces of the Allied

23 Powers held as prisoners of war.

24 (4) Despite this admission of liability, Article

25 14(b) of the Treaty has been construed to waive all
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1 private claims by nationals of the United States, in2 cluding private claims by members of the United

3 States Armed Forces held as prisoners of war by

4 Japan during World War II.

5 (5) Under Article 26 of the Treaty, the govern6 ment of Japan agreed that if Japan entered into a

7 war claims settlement agreement with a country that

8 is not a party to the Treaty that provides more fa9 vorable terms to that country than the terms Japan

10 extended to the parties to the Treaty, then Japan

11 would extend those more favorable terms to each of

12 the parties to the Treaty, including to the United

13 States.

14 (6) Since the entry into force of the Treaty in

15 1952, the Government of Japan has entered into

16 war claims settlement agreements with countries

17 that are not party to the Treaty that provide more

18 favorable terms than those extended to the parties to

19 the Treaty, such as terms that allow claims by na20 tionals of those countries against Japanese nationals

21 to be pursued without limitation, restriction, or

22 waiver or any type.

23 (7) In accordance with Article 26 of the Treaty,

24 Japan is obligated to extend those same favorable

25 terms to the United States, including to nationals of
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1 the United States, who as members of the United

2 States Armed Forces, were held as prisoners of war

3 by Japan during World War II and who were forced

4 to provide labor without compensation and under in5 humane conditions.

6 (8) The people of the United States owe a deep

7 and eternal debt to the heroic United States

8 servicemembers held as prisoners of war by Japan

9 for the sacrifices those servicemembers made on be10 half of the United States in the days after the igno11 minious aggression of Japan against the United

12 States at Pearl Harbor, Bataan, and Corregidor.

13 (9) The pursuit of justice by those

14 servicemembers through lawsuits filed in the United

15 States, where otherwise supported by Federal, State,

16 or international law, is consistent with the interests

17 of the United States and should not be preempted

18 by any other provision of law or by the Treaty.

19 (10) Despite repeated requests for disclosure by

20 United States servicemembers, the Department of

21 Veterans Affairs, and Congress, the United States

22 Government has withheld from those servicemembers

23 and their physicians Japanese records that were

24 turned over to the United States and that relate to

25 chemical and biological experiments conducted on
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1 United States servicemembers held as prisoners of

2 war by Japan during World War II.

3 SEC. 3. SUITS AGAINST JAPANESE NATIONALS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—In an action brought in a Federal

5 court against a Japanese defendant by a member of the

6 United States Armed Forces who was held as a prisoner

7 of war by Japan during World War II that seeks com8 pensation for mistreatment or failure to pay wages in con9 nection with labor performed by such a member to the

10 benefit of the Japanese defendant during World War II,

11 the court—

12 (1) shall apply the applicable statute of limita13 tions of the State in which the Federal court hearing

14 the case is located;

15 (2) shall not construe Article 14(b) of the Trea16 ty as constituting a waiver by the United States of

17 claims by nationals of the United States, including

18 claims by members of the United States Armed

19 Forces, so as to preclude the pending action.

20 (b) SUNSET.—Paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall

21 cease to apply at the end of the 10-year period beginning

22 on the date of enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF RIGHTS UNDER ARTICLE 26 OF

2 THE TREATY OF PEACE WITH JAPAN.

3 It is the policy of the United States Government to

4 ensure that all terms under any war claims settlement

5 agreement between Japan and any other country that are

6 more favorable than those terms extended to the United

7 States under the Treaty, will be extended to the United

8 States in accordance with Article 26 of the Treaty with

9 respect to claims by nationals of the United States who,

10 as members of the United States Armed Forces, were held

11 as prisoners of war by Japan during World War II and

12 who were forced to provide labor without compensation

13 and under inhumane conditions.

14 SEC. 5. AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION RELATING TO CER15 TAIN CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TESTS

16 CONDUCTED BY JAPAN DURING WORLD WAR

17 II.

18 (a) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO THE SEC19 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.—Notwithstanding any

20 other provision of law, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs

21 may request from, and the head of the department or

22 agency so requested shall provide to the Secretary, infor23 mation relating to chemical or biological tests conducted

24 by Japan on members of the United States Armed Forces

25 held as prisoners of war by Japan during World War II,
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1 including any information provided to the United States

2 Government by Japan.

3 (b) AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION TO INTERESTED

4 MEMBERS OFTHE ARMED FORCES.—Any information re5 ceived by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under sub6 section (a), with respect to an individual member of the

7 United States Armed Forces held as a prisoner of war

8 by Japan during World War II, may be made available

9 to that individual to the extent otherwise provided by law.

10 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

11 In this Act:

12 (1) JAPANESE DEFENDANT.—

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Japanese

14 defendant’’ means a Japanese national, an enti15 ty organized or incorporated under Japanese

16 law, an affiliate of an entity organized or incor17 porated under Japanese law that is organized

18 or incorporated under the laws of any State,

19 and any predecessor of that entity or affiliate.

20 (B) LIMITATION.—The term does not in21 clude the Government of Japan.

22 (2) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev23 eral States, the District of Columbia, and any com24 monwealth, territory or possession of the United

25 States.
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1 (3) TREATY.—The term ‘‘Treaty’’ mean the

2 Treaty of Peace with Japan, signed at San Fran3 cisco on September 8, 1951 (3 UST 3169).

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