NINETY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION 298
Introduced by Preister, 5; Brown, 6; Price, 26; Beutler, 28;
Connealy, 16; Kiel, 9; Schimek, 27; Hilgert, 7;
Lynch, 13; Hartnett, 45; Suttle, 10; Bourne, 8; Wehrbein, 2
WHEREAS, 33,587 men and women in the United States
military and 13,966 United States civilians were captured by the
forces of the Empire of Japan in the Pacific Theater during World
War II, confined in brutal prison camps, and subjected to severe
shortages of food, medicine, and other basic necessities; and
WHEREAS, many of the United States military and civilian
prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Government during World War II
were forced to work in coal, copper, lead, and zinc mines; steel
plants; shipbuilding yards; and other private Imperial Japanese
industries; and
WHEREAS, many of the United States military and civilian
prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Government were starved and
beaten to death or executed by beheading, firing squads, or
immolation, while working for Japanese business entities that have
become some of the largest multinational companies in the world
today; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Republic of Germany has formally
apologized to the victims of the Holocaust and provided financial
compensation to its victims; and
WHEREAS, the United States Government, in 1988,
acknowledged the unfairness of its policy of detaining and
interring Japanese-Americans during World War II; and
WHEREAS, while Japanese Government officials have
expressed personal apologies and supported the payment of privately
funded reparations to some victims, the Japanese Government has
refused to fully acknowledge the crimes of Imperial Japan committed
during World War II and to provide reparations to its victims; and
WHEREAS, similar resolutions have been adopted by the
California Legislature and introduced in the United States House of
Representatives.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MEMBERS OF THE
NINETY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA, SECOND SESSION:
1. That the Legislature urges the Government of Japan to
formally acknowledge and issue an apology for the war crimes
committed by the Imperial Japanese military during World War II and
to pay reparations to the victims of those crimes.
2. That the Legislature requests that the President of
the United States and the United States Congress take all
appropriate action to further bring about a formal apology and
reparations by the Japanese Government.
3. That copies of this resolution be sent 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 member of Nebraska's
congressional delegation.
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PRESIDENT OF THE LEGISLATURE
I, Patrick J. O'Donnell, hereby certify that the
foregoing is a true and correct copy of Legislative Resolution 298,
which was passed by the Legislature of Nebraska in the Ninety-sixth
Legislature, Second Session, on the XXXX(words)XXXX day of January
2000.
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CLERK OF THE LEGISLATURE