IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 357

Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the war crimes committed by

the Japanese military during World War II.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 19, 2000

Mr. EVANS (for himself, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Mr. BONIOR, Mr.

BILBRAY, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mrs. FOWLER, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.

CAMPBELL, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. ROYCE, Mr.

MCGOVERN, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LAMPSON, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas,

and Ms. ESHOO) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which

was referred to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the war crimes

committed by the Japanese military during World War II.

Whereas during World War II the Government of Japan deliberately ignored and flagrantly violated the Geneva and

Hague Conventions and committed atrocious crimes

against humanity;

Whereas 33,587 members of the United States Armed Forces

and 13,966 United States civilians were captured by the

Japanese military in the Pacific Theater during World

War II, confined in brutal prison camps, and subjected

to severe shortages of food, medicine, and other basic necessities;
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Whereas many of the United States military and civilian prisoners of the Japanese military during World War II were

subjected to forced labor, starved and beaten to death, or

summarily executed by beheading, firing squads, or immolation;

Whereas almost all of the United States military and civilian

prisoners who were rescued from the Japanese military at

the end of World War II were afflicted with diseases

caused by malnutrition and deprivation and have suffered

from life-long illnesses, psychological and emotional trauma, and financial hardships as a result of their experience during the war;

Whereas, of the United States prisoners held by the German

military during World War II, 1.1 percent of the military

prisoners and 3.5 percent of the civilian prisoners died

during their imprisonment, but of the United States prisoners held by the Japanese military, 37.3 percent of the

military prisoners and 11 percent of the civilian prisoners

died during their imprisonment;

Whereas on December 8, 1941, the Japanese military

bombed and invaded the island of Guam and occupied the

island until the liberation of Guam by the United States

Armed Forces on July 21, 1944;

Whereas the people of Guam were subjected to death, beheadings, rape and other violent acts, forced labor and

marches, and imprisonment by the Japanese military

during the occupation of Guam during World War II;

Whereas at the Japanese biochemical warfare detachment in

Mukden, Manchuria, commanded by Dr. Shiro Ishii, experiments were conducted on living prisoners of war that
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included infecting prisoners with deadly toxins, including

plague, anthrax, typhoid, and cholera;

Whereas at least 260 of the 1,500 United States prisoners

believed to have been held at Mukden died during the

first winter of their imprisonment and many of the 300

living survivors of Mukden claim to suffer from physical

ailments resulting from their subjection to chemical and

biological experiments;

Whereas the Japanese military invaded Nanjing, China, from

December, 1937, until February, 1938, during the period

known as the ‘‘Rape of Nanjing’’, and brutally and systematically slaughtered more than 300,000 Chinese men,

women, and children and raped more than 20,000

women;

Whereas the Japanese military enslaved millions of Koreans

during World War II and forced hundreds of thousands

of women into sexual slavery for Japanese troops;

Whereas international jurists in Geneva, Switzerland ruled in

1993 that women who were forced to be sexual slaves of

the Japanese military during World War II (known by

the Japanese military as ‘‘comfort women’’) deserve at

least $40,000 each as compensation for their ‘‘extreme

pain and suffering’’;

Whereas the Government of Germany has formally apologized

to the victims of the Holocaust and gone to great lengths

to provide financial compensation to the victims and to

provide for their needs and recovery; and

Whereas by contrast the Government of Japan has refused

to fully acknowledge the crimes it committed during

World War II and to provide reparations to its victims:

Now, therefore, be it
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1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Gov3 ernment of Japan should—

4 (1) formally issue a clear and unambiguous

5 apology for the atrocious war crimes committed by

6 the Japanese military during World War II; and

7 (2) immediately pay reparations to the victims

8 of those crimes, including United States military and

9 civilian prisoners of war, survivors of the ‘‘Rape of

10 Nanjing’’ from December, 1937, until February,

11 1938, and the women who were forced into sexual

12 slavery and known by the Japanese military as

13 ‘‘comfort women’’.

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