Political Quotes

“I would like to commend our good chairman of the Committee on Resources, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Hansen), for his support, and our ranking member, the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Rahall), for his endorsement of this important legislation. Mr. Speaker, as has been so eloquently stated by the gentleman from Guam (Mr. Underwood), the commission to review reparations for the people of Guam, who were subjected to death, forced labor, forced marches and internment during World War II is long overdue. Guam was the only land under the jurisdiction of the United States to be occupied by Japanese forces during World War II. The people of Guam could have, I suppose, Mr. Speaker, greeted Japanese military forces with open arms and perhaps spared themselves some of the misery they suffered during 3 years of brutal occupation by Japanese forces, but they did not. These native Guamanians were proud Americans since the annexation of Guam by America in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. In response to their loyalty, 56 years after the Secretary of the Navy was authorized to adjudicate these claims, we are still debating whether we should establish a commission to study whether the people of Guam who suffered during this occupation should receive reparations. Mr. Speaker, it has been 56 years. Even the Department of the Navy supported reparations decades ago. Direct action on the part of this Congress is long, long overdue.…”