103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1944
AN ACT
To provide for additional development at War in
the Pacific National Historical Park, and for
other purposes.
103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1944
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 Representa-
tives 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 Mari-
anas and liberated the United States Territory of
Guam from Japanese occupation;
(2) an attack during this campaign by the Jap-
anese Imperial fleet, aimed at countering the Amer-
ican 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 occu-
pied for two and one-half years by the enemy during
World War II and restored freedom to the indige-
nous 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 he-
roic bravery and sacrifice;
(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 Pa-
trol, 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;
(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 provided, for the first time during the war,
air bases which allowed land-based American bomb-
ers to reach strategic targets in Japan; and
(9) the air offensive conducted from the Mari-
anas 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 fa-
cilities at War in the Pacific National Historical
Park on Guam are expeditiously developed and con-
structed; and
(3) the Secretary of the Interior should take all
necessary steps to ensure that the monument ref-
erenced 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.—Sub-
section (k) of section 6 of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to
authorize appropriations for certain insular areas of the
United States, and for other purposes’’, 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 authorized to construct a monument which shall com-
memorate, by individual name, those people of Guam, liv-
ing and dead, who suffered personal injury, forced labor,
forced marches, internment or death incident to enemy oc-
cupation of Guam between December 8, 1941, and August
10, 1944.
‘‘(m) Within the boundaries of the park, the Sec-
retary is authorized 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 sub-
sections (l) and (m), including, at a minimum, cost esti-
mates for the design and construction of the monument
authorized in section (l).
‘‘(o) Within six months after the date of enactment
of this subsection, the Secretary, through the Assistant
Secretary of Territorial and International Affairs, shall
compile 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 list
of names to appear on the monument authorized in sub-
section (l).
‘‘(p) 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.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives June 21, 1993.
Attest:
Clerk.