One Hundred Third Congress of the
United States or America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on
Tuesday, the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and
ninety-three
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
Representatives 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
Marianas and liberated the United States Territory of Guam from Japanese
occupation;
(2) an attack during this campaign by the Japanese
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 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 occupied 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 heroic 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 Patrol, 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;
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 facilities at War in
the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam are expeditiously developed
and constructed; and
(3) the Secretary of the Interior should take all
necessary steps to ensure that the monument referenced 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.Subsection
(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 commemorate
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 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 subsections (l) and (m),
including, at a minimum, cost estimates for the design and construction
of the monument authorized in section (l).
H. R. 19443
"(o) 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.".
APPROVED DEC 17, 1993
Speaker of the House of Representatives
President of the Senate Pro Tempore
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