Finally, the California Legislation is taking the lead in legislative action
addressing the crimes against humanity committed by Japan in WWII. The AJR
27 (California Assembly Joint Resolution) introduced by Assemblyman Mike
Honda is a beautifully worded bill that focuses on all the various victim's
groups and should be supported by all. I suggest that those of you living in
California immediately contact your own California Assembly representative
urging their support of AJR 27 and to write or call Assemblyman Mike Honda's
office expressing your thanks for his leadership in this legislation. Many
people in California have been working together and it is paying off. If any
of you have friends, relatives, acquaintances in California please ask them
to also actively get their Assembly representative to support AJR 27. Those
in positions of authority should write letters of support and thanks on your
organization's letterhead to Assemblyman Mike Honda ASAP. Once we get this
legislation passed we should get other State goverments to introduce and
pass similar legislation. Thank you for your consideration in this important
matter,
*****************************************************************

Actual Bill: Proposec Resolution at California Assembly

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_0001-0050/ajr_27_bill_19990622_int reduced.html

> BILL NUMBER: AJR 27 INTRODUCED
>  BILL TEXT

> INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Honda (California Assembly)
>
>                         JUNE 22, 1999
>
>    Assembly Joint Resolution No. 27--Relative to the war crimes
> committed by the Japanese military during World War II.

>  LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

>    AJR 27, as introduced, Honda.  War crimes:  Japanese military
> during World War II.
>    This measure would urge the Government of Japan to formally issue
> a clear and unambiguous apology for the atrocious war crimes
> committed by the Japanese military during World War II and to
> immediately pay reparations to the victims of those crimes.  This
> measure would also call upon the United States Congress to adopt a
> similar resolution and would urge the President of the United States
> to take all appropriate action to bring about a formal apology and
> reparations by the Government of Japan.
>    Fiscal committee:  no.
>
>    WHEREAS, During World War II, the Governments of Japan and Germany
> flagrantly violated the Geneva and Hague Conventions and committed
> atrocious crimes against humanity; and
>    WHEREAS, The Government of Germany has formally apologized to the
> victims of the Holocaust and gone to great lengths to provide
> financial compensation to victims and to provide for their needs and
> recovery; and
>    WHEREAS, By contrast, the Government of Japan has refused to fully
> acknowledge the crimes it committed during World War II and to
> provide reparations to the victims of those crimes; and
>    WHEREAS, 33,587 members of the United States Armed Forces and
> 13,966 American civilians were captured by the Japanese military in
> the Pacific Theater during World War II, many of whom were current or
> former residents of the State of California; and
>    WHEREAS, Many of the United States military and civilian prisoners
> of the Japanese military during World War II were confined in
> inhumane prison camps and subjected to forced labor and died
> unmentionable deaths; and
>    WHEREAS, The Japanese military invaded Nanking, China, from
> December 1937 until February 1938, during the period known as the
> "Rape of Nanking," and brutally slaughtered more than 300,000 Chinese
> men, women, and children and raped more than 20,000 women; and
>    WHEREAS, The people of Guam and the Marshall Islands, during the
> Japanese occupation from 1941-1944, were subjected to unmentionable
> acts of violence, including forced labor and marches, and
> imprisonment by the Japanese military during its occupation of these
> islands; and
>    WHEREAS, Three-fourths of the population in Port Blair on Andamans
> Islands, India, were exterminated by Japanese troops between March
> 23, 1942, and the end of World War II; many were tortured to death or
> forced into sexual slavery at "comfort stations," and crimes beyond
> description were committed on families and young children; and
>    WHEREAS, The Japanese military terrorized Manila, the capital of
> the Philippine Islands, from December 23, 1943, until February 14,
> 1944, during a period known as the "Rape of Manila," and committed
> crimes that resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 Filipinos by
> torture, rape, and starvation; and
>    WHEREAS, At least 260 of the 1,500 United States prisoners,
> including many Californians, believed to have been held at Mukden,
> Manchuria, died during the first winter of their imprisonment and
> many of the 300 living survivors of Mukden claim to suffer from
> physical ailments resulting from their subjection to Japanese
> military chemical and biological experiments; and
>    WHEREAS, The Japanese military enslaved millions of Koreans,
> Chinese, Filipinos, and citizens from other occupied or colonized
> territories during World War II, and forced hundreds of thousands of
> women into sexual slavery for Japanese troops; and
>    WHEREAS, Although the International Commission of Jurists in
> Geneva, Switzerland, ruled in 1993 that women who were forced to be
> sexual slaves of the Japanese military during World War II, known by
> the Japanese military as "comfort women," deserve at least $40,000
> each as compensation for their "extreme pain and suffering," none of
> these women have been paid any compensation by the Government of
> Japan; and
>    WHEREAS, At the April 1999 meeting of the Northern California
> Western Nevada Pacific District of the Japanese American Citizens
> League (JACL), the board approved a resolution, cosponsored by the
> Florin, Golden Gate, and Sequoia JACL Chapters, that supported
> reparations for, and a clear apology to, the innocent civilian
> victims of Japan's wartime atrocities; and
>    WHEREAS, At the March 1999 meeting of the Sacramento Jewish
> Community Relations Council, a service of the Sacramento Jewish
> Federation, the council approved a resolution supporting reparations
> for, and a clear apology to, the innocent civilian victims of Japan's
> wartime atrocities; now, therefore, be it
>    Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California,
> jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the
> Government of Japan to do both of the following:
>    (1) Formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the
> atrocious war crimes committed by the Japanese military during World
> War II.
>    (2) Immediately pay reparations to the victims of those crimes,
> including United States military and civilian prisoners of war, the
> people of Guam and the Marshall Islands, who were subjected to
> violence and imprisonment, the survivors of the "Rape of Nanking"
> from December 1937 until February 1938, and the women who were forced
> into sexual slavery and known by the Japanese military as "comfort
> women"; and be it further
>    Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California calls
> upon the United States Congress to adopt a similar resolution that
> follows the spirit and letter of this resolution calling on the
> Government of Japan to issue a formal apology and pay reparations to
> the victims of its war crimes during World War II; and be it further
>    Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California requests
> that the President of the United States take all appropriate action
> to further bring about a formal apology and reparations by the
> Government of Japan to the victims of its war crimes during World War
> II; and be it further
>    Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
> this resolution to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, the
> President of the United States, the President of the Senate, the
> Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each California Member
> of the Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
 

 
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