103D CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1944
AMENDMENT
TO
SENATE AMENDMENT
In the House of Representatives, U. S.,
November 21, 1993.
Resolved, That the House agree to the amendment of
the Senate to the bill (H.R. 1944) entitled ‘‘An Act to pro-
vide for additional development at War in the Pacific Na-
tional Historical Park, and for other purposes’’, with the fol-
lowing
AMENDMENT:
In lieu of the matter inserted by said amendment, in-
sert:
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 Japa-
nese Imperial 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 de-
feat 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 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 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 Jap-
anese invasion and their resistance during the occu-
pation; 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 Japa-
nese 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 Jap-
anese;
(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 Phil-
ippines, Taiwan, and the south China coast, and ulti-
mately 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 bombers
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 author-
ize 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 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 authorized to implement programs to interpret experi-
ences of the people of Guam during World War II, includ-
ing, 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).
‘‘(o) The Secretary may take such steps as may be nec-
essary to preserve and protect various World War II vintage
weapons and fortifications which exist within the bound-
aries of the park.’’.
Attest:
Clerk.