II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3107 

To require the payment of compensation to members of the Armed Forces 

and civilian employees of the United States who were forced to perform 

slave labor by the Imperial Government of Japan or by corporations 

of Japan during World War II, or the surviving spouses of such members, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 10, 2008 

Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require the payment of compensation to members of 

the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the United 

States who were forced to perform slave labor by the 

Imperial Government of Japan or by corporations of 

Japan during World War II, or the surviving spouses 

of such members, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION TO MEMBERS OF 

2 THE ARMED FORCES AND CIVILIAN EMPLOY3 EES OF THE UNITED STATES CAPTURED BY 

4 JAPAN AND FORCED TO PERFORM SLAVE 

5 LABOR DURING WORLD WAR II. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) During World War II, members of the 

9 Armed Forces of the United States fought valiantly 

10 against the Armed Forces of Japan in the Pacific. 

11 In particular, from December 1941 until May 1942, 

12 members of the Armed Forces of the United States 

13 fought courageously against overwhelming Armed 

14 Forces of Japan on Wake Island, Guam, the Phil15 ippine Islands, including the Bataan Peninsula and 

16 Corregidor, and the Dutch East Indies, thereby pre17 venting Japan from accomplishing strategic objec18 tives necessary for achieving a preemptive military 

19 victory in the Pacific during World War II. 

20 (2) During initial military action in the Phil21 ippines, members of the Armed Forces of the United 

22 States were ordered to surrender on April 9, 1942, 

23 and were forced to march 65 miles to prison camps 

24 at Camp O’Donnell, Cabanatuan, and Bilibid. More 

25 than 10,000 people of the United States died during 

26 the march (known as the ‘‘Bataan Death March’’) 


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1 and during subsequent imprisonment as a result of 

2 starvation, disease, and executions. 

3 (3) Beginning in January 1942, the Armed 

4 Forces of Japan began transporting United States 

5 prisoners of war to Japan, Taiwan, Manchuria, and 

6 Korea to perform slave labor to support Japanese 

7 industries. Many of the unmarked merchant vessels 

8 in which the prisoners were transported (known as 

9 ‘‘Hell Ships’’) were attacked by the Armed Forces of 

10 the United States, which, according to some esti11 mates, killed more than 3,600 people of the United 

12 States. 

13 (4) Following the conclusion of World War II, 

14 the Government of the United States agreed to pay 

15 compensation to former prisoners of war of the 

16 United States, amounting to $2.50 per day of im17 prisonment. This compensation, paid from assets of 

18 Japan frozen by the Government of the United 

19 States, is wholly insufficient to compensate fully 

20 such former prisoners of war for the conditions they 

21 endured. Neither the Government of Japan nor any 

22 corporations of Japan admit any liability requiring 

23 payment of compensation. 

24 (5) Other countries, including Canada, the 

25 United Kingdom, Isle of Man, Norway, the NetherVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:44 Jun 11, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3107.IS S3107

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1 lands, New Zealand, and Australia have previously 

2 awarded such a compensation to their surviving vet3 erans who were captured by the Japanese during 

4 World War II and required to perform slave labor. 

5 Currently, the United States is the only Western Al6 lied power that has not awarded similar compensa7 tion to these distinguished heroes of World War II 

8 who were prisoners of war of Japan. 

9 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to rec10 ognize, by the provision of compensation, the heroic con11 tributions of the members of the Armed Forces and civil12 ian employees of the United States who were captured by 

13 the Japanese military during World War II and denied 

14 their basic human rights by being forced to perform slave 

15 labor by the Imperial Government of Japan or by corpora16 tions of Japan during World War II. 

17 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 (1) COVERED VETERAN OR CIVILIAN IN19 TERNEE.—The term ‘‘covered veteran or civilian in20 ternee’’ means any individual who— 

21 (A) is a citizen of the United States; 

22 (B) was a member of the Armed Forces, a 

23 civilian employee of the United States, or an 

24 employee of a contractor of the United States 

25 during World War II; 


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1 (C) served in or with the Armed Forces 

2 during World War II; 

3 (D) was captured and held as a prisoner of 

4 war or prisoner by Japan in the course of such 

5 service; and 

6 (E) was required by the Imperial Govern7 ment of Japan, or one or more corporations of 

8 Japan, to perform slave labor during World 

9 War II. 

10 (2) SLAVE LABOR.—The term ‘‘slave labor’’ 

11 means forced servitude under conditions of subjuga12 tion. 

13 (d) PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION REQUIRED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of 

15 appropriated funds, the Secretary of Defense shall 

16 pay compensation to each living covered veteran or 

17 civilian internee, or to the surviving spouse of a cov18 ered veteran or civilian internee, in the amount of 

19 $20,000. 

20 (2) REBUTTABLE PRESUMPTION.—An applica21 tion for compensation submitted under this section 

22 by or with respect to an individual seeking treatment 

23 as a covered veteran or civilian internee under this 

24 section is subject to a rebuttable presumption that 

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1 ternee if the application on its face provides infor2 mation sufficient to establish such individual as a 

3 covered veteran or civilian internee. 

4 (e) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER PAYMENTS.—Any 

5 amount paid to a person under this section for activity 

6 described in subsection (c)(1)(D) is in addition to any 

7 other amount paid to such person for such activity under 

8 any other provision of law. 

9 (f) INAPPLICABILITY OF TAXATION OR ATTACH10 MENT.—Any amount paid to a person under this section 

11 shall not be subject to any taxation, attachment, execu12 tion, levy, tax lien, or detention under any process what13 ever. 

Æ 


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