Dianne Feinstein: “I rise alongside my colleague from Utah, Senator Hatch, to introduce the ``POW Assistance Act of 2001''. This…”

“I rise alongside my colleague from Utah, Senator Hatch, to introduce the ``POW Assistance Act of 2001''. This legislation makes an important statement in support of the many members of the U.S. Armed Forces who were used as slave labor by Japanese companies during the Second World War or subject to chemical and biological warfare experiments in Japanese POW camps. The core of this bill is a clarification that in any pending lawsuit brought by former POWs against Japanese corporations, or any lawsuits which might be filed in the future, the Federal court shall apply the applicable statute of limitations of the State in which the action was brought. This legislation is important because a recently enacted California law enables victims of WWII slave labor to seek damages up to the year 2010 against responsible Japanese companies, just as any citizen can sue a private company. Seventeen lawsuits have been filed on behalf of former POWs who survived forced labor, beatings, and starvation at the hands of Japanese companies.”