IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 922 
Acknowledging and honoring brave young men from Hawaii who enabled 
the United States to establish and maintain jurisdiction in remote equa-
torial islands as prolonged conflict in the Pacific led to World War 
II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 14, 2016 
Ms. GABBARD submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
RESOLUTION 
Acknowledging and honoring brave young men from Hawaii 
who enabled the United States to establish and maintain 
jurisdiction in remote equatorial islands as prolonged 
conflict in the Pacific led to World War II. 
Whereas in the mid-19th century, the Guano Islands Act (48 
U.S.C. 1411 et seq.) enabled companies from the United 
States to mine guano from a number of islands in the 
Equatorial Pacific; 
Whereas after several decades, when the guano was depleted, 
the companies abandoned mining activities, and the con-
trol of the islands by the United States diminished and 
left the islands vulnerable to exploitation by other na-
tions; 
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•HRES 922 IH 
Whereas the Far East during the late 19th century and early 
20th century was characterized by colonial conflicts and 
Japanese expansionism; 
Whereas the 1930s marked the apex of the sphere of influ-
ence of Imperial Japan in the Far East; 
Whereas military and commercial interest in Central Pacific 
air routes between Australia and California led to a de-
sire by the United States to claim the islands of 
Howland, Baker, and Jarvis, although the ownership of 
the islands was unclear; 
Whereas in 1935, a secret Department of Commerce col-
onization plan was instituted, aimed at placing citizens of 
the United States as colonists on the remote islands of 
Howland, Baker, and Jarvis; 
Whereas to avoid conflicts with international law, which pre-
vented colonization by active military personnel, the 
United States sought the participation of furloughed mili-
tary personnel and Native Hawaiian civilians in the col-
onization project; 
Whereas William T. Miller, Superintendent of Airways at the 
Department of Commerce, was appointed to lead the col-
onization project, traveled to Hawaii in February 1935, 
met with Albert F. Judd, Trustee of Kamehameha 
Schools and the Bishop Museum, and agreed that recent 
graduates and students of the Kamehameha School for 
Boys would make ideal colonists for the project; 
Whereas the ideal Hawaiian candidates were candidates who 
could ‘‘fish in the native manner, swim excellently, handle 
a boat, be disciplined, friendly, and unattached’’; 
Whereas, on March 30, 1935, the United States Coast Guard 
Cutter Itasca departed from Honolulu Harbor in great 
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secrecy with 6 young Hawaiian men aboard, all recent 
graduates of Kamehameha Schools, and 12 furloughed 
Army personnel, whose purpose was to occupy the barren 
islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis in teams of 5 for 
3 months; 
Whereas in June 1935, after a successful first tour, the fur-
loughed Army personnel were ordered off the islands and 
replaced with additional Kamehameha Schools alumni, 
thus leaving the islands under the exclusive occupation of 
the 4 Native Hawaiians on each island; 
Whereas the duties of the colonists while on the island were 
to record weather conditions, cultivate plants, maintain a 
daily log, record the types of fish that were caught, ob-
serve bird life, and collect specimens for the Bishop Mu-
seum; 
Whereas the successful yearlong occupation by the colonists 
directly enabled President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue 
Executive Order 7368 on May 13, 1936, which pro-
claimed that the islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis 
were under the jurisdiction of the United States; 
Whereas multiple Federal agencies vied for the right to ad-
minister the colonization project, including the Depart-
ment of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, and 
the Department of the Navy, but jurisdiction was ulti-
mately granted to the Department of the Interior; 
Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the coloniza-
tion project emphasized weather data and radio commu-
nication, which brought about the recruitment of a num-
ber of Asian radiomen and aerologists; 
Whereas under the Department of the Interior, the coloniza-
tion project also expanded beyond the Kamehameha 
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