BATAAN & CORREGIDOR VET. MEM. HWY                                                       H.B. 4570:

                                                                              SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL

                                                                                                         IN COMMITTEE

House Bill 4570 (as passed by the House)

Sponsor:  Representative Tim Sneller

House Committee:  Transportation

                             Ways and Means

Senate Committee:  Transportation and Infrastructure

Date Completed:  12-4-19

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Michigan Memorial Highway Act to designate the portion of Highway I-69 between Center Road and Belsay Road in the City of Burton as the "Bataan and Corregidor Veterans Memorial Highway".

Currently, the portion of Highway I-69 between the western city limit of Flint and the eastern city limit of Port Huron is known as the "Veterans Memorial Highway". The bill would exempt the portion of Highway I-69 between Center Road and Belsay Road in the City of Burton from this designation and, instead, would designate this portion of highway as the Bataan and Corregidor Veterans Memorial Highway.

BACKGROUND

Immediately following the Pearl Harbor attacks on December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed certain sites in the Philippines. The United States deployed approximately 22,000 American soldiers to the Philippines to combat the Japanese forces, and on January 1, 1942, the Battle of Bataan began. On April 9, 1942, 76,000 American and Filipino troops in Bataan surrendered to the Japanese forces and became prisoners of war (POW). The Japanese forces soon ordered the POWs to march 66 miles to Bataan's east coast to board railcars for POW camps. The Japanese forces brutalized, starved, and killed the POWs along the march, and approximately 500 American soldiers and 2,500 Filipino soldiers died during the trek. The march came to be known as the Bataan Death March. Subsequently, on May 7, 1942, approximately 10,000 American surrendered on the island of Corregidor, in the Manila Bay near the Philippines. Those POWs subjected to similar treatment during their internment.

MCL 250.1032                                                         Legislative Analyst:  Tyler VanHuyse

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.

                                                                                 Fiscal Analyst:  Michael Siracuse

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.