Legislative Findings and Intent

(a)On December 8, 1941, the Imperial Japanese military invaded and occupied Guam for nearly three

(3)years. During the occupation, approximately twenty thousand (20,000) people suffered and were subjected to death, rape, severe personal injury, personal injury, forced labor, forced march, or internment. On November 15, 1945, the United States Congress passed the Guam Meritorious Claims Act, which was signed by President Harry S. Truman as Public Law 79-224. This Act authorized the Secretary of the Navy to grant immediate relief to the residents of Guam by adjudicating and settling claims for property damage, death, or personal injury.

(b)In 1947, Dr. Ernest M. Hopkins chaired a committee appointed to evaluate the U.S. Navy’s execution of the Guam Meritorious Claims Act. The “Hopkins Report” generated by the committee determined that the implementation of the Guam Meritorious Claims Act was not sufficient and payments for claims were slow. The Hopkins Report recommended to Congress that changes were necessary; however, Congress failed to adopt any recommendations in future war claims legislation passed by it.

(c)On December 23, 2016, nearly seventy-two

(72)years after the passage of the Guam Meritorious Claims Act, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act was signed into law as U.S. Public Law 114328. On June 20, 2017, the Commission’s Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act Claims Program began. The Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act authorizes the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to accept and adjudicate claims. Section 1705(b)(2) of U.S. Public Law 114-328 gives the authority of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission to publish a notice of the deadline for filing a claim in the Federal Register, and in newspaper, radio, and television media in Guam. Pursuant to Section 1705(b)(2) of U.S. Public Law 114-328, following the implementation of the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act Claims Program, claimants were given one

(1)year to file. The deadline to file a claim was on June 20, 2018. Since the June 20, 2018 deadline, over seven hundred

(700)remaining survivors of Guam’s wartime occupation and their descendants have signed a petition urging Congress to amend the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act to remove the deadline to file their claim.

(d)While under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2017, the Guam World War II Claims Fund, also known as the “Claims Fund,” was established as a special fund by the Secretary of the Treasury for the payments of claims. Deposits collected under Section 30 over the 2014 threshold are to be made into the Claims Fund with deductions for administrative expenses.

(e)While the government of Guam has demonstrated through the passage of Public Law 35-061 its intent and desire to pay out World War II claims as expeditiously as possible, Section 1705(b)(2) of U.S. Public Law 114-328 prohibits members of the Greatest Generation who have not filed within the one (1)year filing period from filing claims. It is the intent of the Guam World War II Reconciliation Act of 2021 to make right by these individuals as I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that it is a moral obligation to do right by our manåmko’.

(f)While I Liheslaturan Guåhan finds that it is the duty of the United States Congress to correct this technical flaw, Guam’s Delegate to Congress has urged I Liheslaturan Guåhan to act independently as I Liheslatura can ensure that its moral obligation to our manåmko’ is fulfilled in a timely manner. CH. 1 OFFICE OF I MAGA’HÅGA/MAGA’LÅHI [THE GOVERNOR]