(Washington, DC) Poblete Tamargo Attorney Mauricio Tamargo testified this afternoon before the U.S. Congress, Natural Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs in support of in support of H.R. 44, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act. 

Tamargo was asked by Congress to explain the work and findings of the Review Commission and justify the necessity of funding these aging claims. Tamargo outlined the Review Commission’s findings stressing the U.S.’s moral obligation to satisfy the outstanding claims of the U.S. nationals in Guam for the atrocities committed against them by virtue of their solidarity with the U.S. in World War II saying “the payment of these awards fulfills a moral obligation”.

Tamargo also clarified that funding for these claims could be derived from monies confiscated from Japan, rather than U.S. dollars as “the funds are, in some sense, traceable to the funds derived from the postwar liquidation of the Japanese and German assets frozen at the beginning of World War II”. 

In his former capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, at the Department of Justice, Tamargo also Chaired the Guam War Claims Review Commission (‘Review Commission”), in 2003. For more information and to view the archived hearing webcast, please visit the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs website.