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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Lujan, B.

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-5-2008

HM 35

SHORT TITLE Congressional Gold Medal for Bataan Veterans

SB

ANALYST Dearing

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Veterans’ Services Department (VSD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Memorial 35 resolves that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to

introduce federal legislation to award the congressional gold medal to the men of the 200

th

coast

artillery of the New Mexico National Guard.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

House Memorial 35 carries no appropriation or fiscal impact to the department.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

History of the 200th and 515

th

Coast Artillery

According to the Bataan Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico, “On

April 9, 1942, the weakened survivors from the combined American and Filipino

forces were unconditionally surrendered to the Japanese by major General

Edward King. Thus began one of the most cruel and unrelenting prisoner-of-war

episodes in modern U.S. history.

House Memorial 35 – Page

2

Most POWs were assembled in Mariveles at the southern tip of the Bataan

peninsula and forced to march to San Fernando, Pampanga. Wounded men were

assisted by able-bodied prisoners or carried on crude stretchers. Stragglers were

beaten or killed. Civilians who showed mercy to the prisoners endured a similar

fate. The incident covered a distance of 104 kilometers (65 miles) and became

known as the Bataan Death March.

The final leg of the northward journey was completed inside stifling railway

boxcars that took them to the prison set up at Camp O’Donnell near the town of

Capas, Tarlac. Most of the American POWs were eventually transferred to

Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija. The captured soldiers were subjected to inhumane

conditions. Death from malnutrition, disease and abuse was a common

occurrence. More than 4,000 American POWs and 25,000 Filipino POWs died in

these two camps alone.

Prison camps became the staging places for forced labor. POWs were routinely

relocated to distant work camps in Manchuria, Formosa, Japan, Korea and

throughout the Philippine Islands. The Japanese transported prisoners aboard

unmarked vessels and many POWs died when Allied forces mistakenly attacked

these “HELL-SHIPS."

On August 15, 1945 the Japanese surrendered. The liberation forces rescued

approximately 1, 000 brutalized and malnourished POWs from the 200th and

515th. Due to their weak condition, nearly a fourth of them died shortly after

returning to the United States.

New Mexico earned the tragic distinction of having the highest prisoner-of-war

population per capita of any state in the Union. The plight of the New Mexico

soldiers motivated next-of-kin and organizations throughout the state to

participate in government war relief efforts and to raise funds for the

International Red Cross. “Remember Bataan" became one of America’s most

enduring wartime credos.

1

History of the Congressional Gold Medal

According to the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, “Since

the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest

expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and

contributions. Each medal honors a particular individual, institution, or event.

Although the first recipients included citizens who participated in the American

Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, Congress broadened the scope

of the medal to include actors, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in

aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine,

athletes, humanitarians, public servants, and foreign recipients.

In addition to the requirement that all Congressional Gold Medal legislation must

be cosponsored by at least two-thirds (290) of the Members of the House, specific

1

History of the 200TH AND 515TH COAST ARTILLERY (AA) PRISONERS OF WAR (Panel Two); Bataan Corregidor Memorial Foundation of

New Mexico, Inc. http://www.angelfire.com/nm/bcmfofnm/bataanpark/panels.html

House Memorial 35 – Page

3

standards are set forth by Rule VII (c)(vii) of the House Committee on Banking

and Financial Service’s Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary

Policy when considering such legislation. Additionally, the Senate Banking,

Housing and Urban Affairs Committee requires that at least 67 Senators must

cosponsor any Congressional Gold Medal legislation before the committee will

consider it.

2

"

PD/mt

2

Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives; http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html