H. R. 1944
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
An Act
To provide for additional development at War in the Pacific National Historical
Park, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) June 15 through August 10, 1994, marks the 50th
anniversary of the Mariana campaign of World War II in which
American forces captured the islands of Saipan and Tinian
in the Northern Marianas and liberated the United States
Territory of Guam from Japanese occupation;
(2) an attack during this campaign by the Japanese Impe-
rial fleet, aimed at countering the American forces that had
landed on Saipan, led to the battle of the Philippine Sea,
which resulted in a crushing defeat for the Japanese by United
States naval forces and the destruction of the effectiveness
of the Japanese carrier-based airpower;
(3) the recapture of Guam liberated one of the few pieces
of United States territory that was occupied for two and one-
half years by the enemy during World War II and restored
freedom to the indigenous Chamorros on Guam who suffered
as a result of the Japanese occupation;
(4) Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units
distinguished themselves with their heroic bravery and sac-
rifice;
(5) the Guam Insular Force Guard, the Guam militia, and
the people of Guam earned the highest respect for their defense
of the island during the Japanese invasion and their resistance
during the occupation; their assistance to the American forces
as scouts for the American invasion was invaluable; and their
role, as members of the Guam Combat Patrol, was instrumental
in seeking out the remaining Japanese forces and restoring
peace to the island;
(6) during the occupation, the people of Guam—
(A) were forcibly removed from their homes;
(B) were relocated to remote sections of the island;
(C) were required to perform forced labor and faced
other harsh treatment, injustices, and death; and
(D) were placed in concentration camps when the
American invasion became imminent and were brutalized
by their occupiers when the liberation of Guam became
apparent to the Japanese;
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H. R. 1944—2
(7) the liberation of the Mariana Islands marked a pivotal
point in the Pacific war and led to the American victories
at Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the south
China coast, and ultimately against the Japanese home islands;
(8) the Mariana Islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian pro-
vided, for the first time during the war, air bases which allowed
land-based American bombers to reach strategic targets in
Japan; and
(9) the air offensive conducted from the Marianas against
the Japanese war-making capability helped shorten the war
and ultimately reduced the toll of lives to secure peace in
the Pacific.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that—
(1) an appropriate commemoration of the 50th anniversary
of the Mariana campaign should be planned by the United
States in conjunction with the Government of Guam and the
Government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands;
(2) the Secretary of the Interior should take all necessary
steps to ensure that appropriate visitor facilities at War in
the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam are expeditiously
developed and constructed; and
(3) the Secretary of the Interior should take all necessary
steps to ensure that the monument referenced in section 3(b)
is completed before July 21, 1994, for the 50th anniversary
commemoration, to provide adequate historical interpretation
of the events described in section 1.
SEC. 3. WAR IN THE PACIFIC NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK.
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Subsection (k) of sec-
tion 6 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to authorize appropriations
for certain insular areas of the United States, and for other pur-
poses’’, approved August 18, 1978 (92 Stat. 493; 16 U.S.C. 410dd)
is amended by striking ‘‘$500,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$8,000,000’’.
(b) DEVELOPMENT.—Section 6 is further amended by adding
at the end the following subsections:
‘‘(l) Within the boundaries of the park, the Secretary is author-
ized to construct a monument which shall commemorate the loyalty
of the people of Guam and the herosim of the American forces
that liberated Guam.
‘‘(m) Within the boundaries of the park, the Secretary is author-
ized to implement programs to interpret experiences of the people
of Guam during World War II, including, but not limited to, oral
histories of those people of Guam who experienced the occupation.
‘‘(n) Within six months after the date of enactment of this
subsection, the Secretary, through the Director of the National
Park Service, shall develop and transmit to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report
containing updated cost estimates for the development of the park.
Further, this report shall contain a general plan to implement
subsections (l) and (m), including, at a minimum, cost estimates
for the design and construction of the monument authorized in
section (l).
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H. R. 1944—3
‘‘(o) The Secretary may take such steps as may be necessary
to preserve and protect various World War II vintage weapons
and fortifications which exist within the boundaries of the park.’’.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
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