By Gerardo R. Partido
Variety News Staff

H.R. 1595, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, has been reviewed and agreed to by the House Committee on Natural Resources.
The committee, of which Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo is a member, voted to report H.R. 1595 to the full House of Representatives for possible consideration in the 110th Congress.
The Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, which Bordallo introduced, recognizes the suffering and the loyalty of the people of Guam during the occupation of the island during the war.
H.R. 1595 would direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make specified payments to survivors of the occupation who were injured, interned, or subjected to forced labor or marches.
The bill also directs the secretary to make payments to survivors of those who died during the occupation, as well as to survivors of residents of Guam who were injured or interned and who have since passed away. The bill is based on the recommendations of the Guam War Claims Review Commission.
Bordallo thanked Chairman Nick Rahall and Ranking Member Don Young for their support for H.R. 1595.
“I look forward to their support and lea-dership to help move this bill through the rest of the legislative process. Our progress to date was also made possible by the support and leadership of Chairwoman Donna Christensen of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, and Ranking Member Luis Fortuño. The subcommittee leadership supported the bill and urged the full committee to take it up expeditiously,” Bordallo said.
For his part, Rahall said the inequitable treatment of Guam after World War II has a strong history with his committee.
“I applaud the work my colleague, Madeleine Bordallo, has done to raise awareness of this issue. Today, we moved a step closer toward correcting a great injustice for those patriotic Americans who withstood a brutal occupation,” Rahall said.
According to Bordallo, H.R. 1595 received strong support from several members of Congress, in addition to Rahall and Young, including Christensen of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Fortuño of Puerto Rico, Congressman Eni Faleomavaega of American Samoa, and Congressman Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii.
“All Guam delegates to Congress contended that the people of Guam were not treated equally in federal legislation meant to address Guam’s suffering during Japanese occupation. This legislation makes right what has been wrong for way too many years,” Christensen said.