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 de-
liberately 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 ne-
cessities;
•HCON 357 IH
Whereas many of the United States military and civilian pris-
oners 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 im-
molation;
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 trau-
ma, and financial hardships as a result of their experi-
ence 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 pris-
oners 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, be-
headings, 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, ex-
periments were conducted on living prisoners of war that
•HCON 357 IH
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 sys-
tematically 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
•HCON 357 IH
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Gov-
ernment of Japan should—
(1) formally issue a clear and unambiguous
apology for the atrocious war crimes committed by
the Japanese military during World War II; and
(2) immediately pay reparations to the victims
of those crimes, including United States military and
civilian prisoners of war, survivors of the ‘‘Rape of
Nanjing’’ from December, 1937, until February,
1938, and the women who were forced into sexual
slavery and known by the Japanese military as
‘‘comfort women’’.
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