IV 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 261 
Honoring and remembering on National Former POW Recognition Day and 
the 75th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan on the Philippine Islands, 
the brave men and women who as prisoners of war gave their liberty 
to ensure ours, thus embodying the enduring spirit of American freedom 
and determination. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 6, 2017 
Mr. HUNTER (for himself, Mr. KINZINGER, Mr. KNIGHT, Mr. PETERS, Mr. 
ISSA, and Mr. JONES) submitted the following resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Honoring and remembering on National Former POW Rec-
ognition Day and the 75th Anniversary of the Fall of 
Bataan on the Philippine Islands, the brave men and 
women who as prisoners of war gave their liberty to 
ensure ours, thus embodying the enduring spirit of Amer-
ican freedom and determination. 
Whereas from the British prison ships floating in New York’s 
harbor to the Tiger Cages in North Vietnam, from the 
copper mines of Japan to the mine shafts of Berga, from 
Andersonville, Georgia, to Mukden, China, American 
service men and women have endured unimaginable cru-
elty and unspeakable treatment at the hands of their cap-
tors; 
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•HRES 261 IH 
Whereas American prisoners of war were stripped of their 
rights, their dignity, their health, and in many cases their 
lives; 
Whereas these servicemembers endured trials few of us can 
imagine and found courage in a darkness we will hope-
fully never experience; 
Whereas National Former POW Recognition Day was estab-
lished to memorialize the surrender of 80,000 American 
and Filipino troops by General Edward P. King on April 
9, 1942, on the Bataan Peninsula that led to the infa-
mous Bataan Death March and nearly four years of bru-
tal imprisonment and slave labor for the survivors; 
Whereas, by May 10, 1942, over 11,500 Americans and Fili-
pinos surrendered on Corregidor, a fortress island in Ma-
nila Bay, and at various bases in the Southern Philippine 
Islands turning the fall of the Philippines into the largest 
surrender in United States military history; 
Whereas over 26,000 American POWs were ultimately held 
by Imperial Japan, with an estimated mortality rate of 
40 percent, of which nearly one-third of these deaths on 
‘‘hell ships’’ carrying them to Japan for slave labor in 
Japanese companies; 
Whereas the productive peace between the United States and 
Japan has produced a model of reconciliation between 
former combatants; 
Whereas the Government of Japan in 2009 offered an apol-
ogy to the United States POWs for their ‘‘damage and 
suffering’’ under Imperial Japan, and in 2010 established 
a program for former POWs and their families to visit 
Japan and their former POW camps; and 
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•HRES 261 IH 
Whereas the participants encourage the Government of 
Japan to partner with its national companies to turn this 
successful program into an international model of rec-
onciliation and a permanent fund to support projects for 
remembrance, documentation, education, and exchange: 
Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) appreciates the recent efforts by the Gov-
ernment of Japan toward a historic apology for Im-
perial Japan’s maltreatment of United States pris-
oners of war; and 
(2) asks the Department of State to work with 
the Government of Japan and representatives of the 
United States POWs to memorialize this historic 
75th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan by crafting 
a formal agreement establishing a permanent future 
fund to understand, preserve, and teach the history 
of the United States POW experience with Japan. 
Æ 
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