Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Japan should formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for its sexual enslavement of young women, known to the world as "comfort women", during its colonial occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, United States and Japan have, since the end of hostilities in 1945, enjoyed a strong friendship, an economic partnership, and a diplomatic alliance.

Because our countries have such a durable relationship, it is possible for us, when circumstances demand, to offer criticism to each other in regard to issues of grave concern.

The occasion of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to the United States, in which he will be meeting with President Bush and other prominent Americans, provides a special opportunity for gentle but pointed criticism of one of our ally's shortcomings.

Mr. Speaker, our colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) have introduced H. Res. 759, legislation that cals on Japan to acknowledge and accept responsibility for forcing women and girls into sexual slavery during the World War II era. In Korea, China, the Philippines, and other countries in the Pacific region, the Japanese use of women and little girls as sex slaves known as ``comfort women'' was among the most horrific degradations imaginable.

Sadly, despite decades of democratic rule and engagement with the United States and other countries that have condemned human trafficking of the past and of today, the Japanese government refuses to apologize to the world for its role in this atrocity. In fact, it will not even acknowledge Japan's responsibility for the suffering of so many women and girls forced into prostitution.

``Comfort women'' were recruited in countries throughout Asia and the Pacific as Japanese troops advanced through conquest in the 1930s and 1940s. The suffering and humiliation of these girls and women ended only with the peace that came with the end of the war.

H. Res. 759 sends a strong signal to Japan, a friend and ally of the United States, that American leaders are not satisfied with the silence of the Japanese government on this human rights issue. I urge my colleagues to become cosponsors of this resolution and to bring this issue close to their hearts.

Mr. Speaker, on this issue, I commend to the House an article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, June 18, written by international health consultant Cesar Chelala and entitled ``Japan Must Atone for Acts of Savagery.''

[From the Philadelphia Inquirer,

June 18, 2006]

Japan Must Atone for Acts of Savagery

(By Cesar Chelala)

Japan's continuing refusal to reach an agreement with the

former ``comfort

women''--women from conquered countries who were forced into

sexual slavery to serve Japanese troops--has been sharply

criticized by Amnesty International, which has called on the

Japanese government to accept full responsibility.

Of the estimated 80,000 to 200,000 comfort women, 80 to 90

percent were from Korea. Girls as young as 11 were forced to

serve between five and 40 soldiers a day, and almost 100

soldiers daily on weekends. Those who resisted were beaten,

burned or wounded with the soldiers' swords. During the

Japanese retreat, many were left to starve or were executed

to eliminate any trace of the atrocities.

For many years after the Second World War, Japan insisted

that the comfort stations had been private brothels. Only in

1993 did Japan admit any military responsibility. Although

many of the comfort women have died, and many are now quite

old, Japan must make restitution. The principle is not so

much war as the human dignity of women, and as long as Japan

does nothing, it implies that it does not care.

The first South Korean woman to tell her story was Bae Bong

Ki in 1980. Kim Hak Soon, who died in 1997, related in 1991

how Japanese soldiers had abducted her when she was 17 and

forced to carry ammunition by day and serve as a prostitute

by night. Her testimony sparked several others. Evidence of

comfort stations has already been found in Korea, China,

Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand,

Burma, New Guinea and Okinawa.

Chung Seo Woon, interviewed by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson in the

book Making More Waves, was the only child of a wealthy

landowner in South Korea. Her father was sent to prison and

badly tortured. When she was 16, she was allowed to visit

him. She was told that if she agreed to work in Japan for 2

years, her father would be released. Despite strong

objections from her mother, she agreed.

Chung Seo Woon was placed on a ship with many other girls

and women. Her group went from Japan to Indonesia, where they

were sterilized and sent to Semarang, a coastal town, where

they were forced to serve dozens of soldiers and officers

daily. In the process, she was forced to become an opium

addict. When Chung Seo Woon attempted to commit suicide by

swallowing malaria pills, she was revived, and, she remarks,

``It was then that I made up my mind to survive and tell my

story, what Japan did to us.'' When war ended and she

returned home, she found her house deserted. Her father had

died in prison, and her mother, humiliated by a rape attempt

by Japanese soldiers, had committed suicide.

Chung Seo Woon kicked her opium addiction after 8 hard

months of struggle and worked hard to regain her dignity. She

was never able to attain a normal sex life, but found

companionship and care from a physician who had had a nervous

breakdown after serving in the Japanese army.

In November 1994, an international commission of jurists

stated that ``it is indisputable that these women were

forced, deceived, coerced and abducted to provide sexual

services to the Japanese military'' and that Japan ``violated

customary norms of international law concerning war crimes,

crimes against humanity, slavery and the trafficking in women

and children. . .Japan should take full responsibility now,

and make suitable restitution to the victims and their

families.''

Still forthcoming is a formal, clear and unambiguous

apology to the victims of sexual abuse by Japanese soldiers,

adequate monetary compensation, and punishment of those

involved.

In 1995, the Japanese government introduced the Asian

Women's Fund as a response to international criticism. But

the fund is widely perceived by survivors as a way for the

Japanese government not to fulfill its legal

responsibilities. As Purna Sen, director of Amnesty

International's Asia-Pacific Program, has stated: ``The

Japanese government must finally right the wrongs of over 60

years by providing full reparations to the survivors of this

horrific system of sexual slavery.''

The money is more than money; it carries with it an

important symbolism. During her testimony at the Fourth World

Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, Chung Seo Woon

declared, ``I might be poor, but not that poor. I demand the

compensation that is rightly due to me, even if I would burn

the money after it is in my hand. It is not a matter of money

but of principle. The Japanese have defiled my body but not

my spirit. My spirit is strong, rich and proud.''

Contact Cesar Chelala at [email protected].

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H. Res. 759, a resolution that expresses the sense of Congress that the Government of Japan should formally issue an apology for the sexual enslavement of young women during the imperial occupation of Asia and World War II. I am disappointed that this non-controversial resolution was not on the suspension calendar this week.

The dehumanization suffered by over 200,000 ``comfort women'' in Asia before and during World War II is one of the greatest and most averted tragedies of the 20th century. These women were ordinary and innocent civilians, ranging from young girls who had barely reached adolescence, to married women with children at home. These women shared in common, coercion into sex slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army.

Equally disturbing is Japan's modern and democratic government's refusal to issue a formal apology for this atrocity. I believe these women deserve a clear and unambiguous apology and reparations from the Japanese government to recognize the fact that their personal dignity was ripped from them.

In 1999, when I served in the California State Assembly, I authored Assembly Joint Resolution 27, which called on Congress to urge the Japanese government to issue an apology for the victims of the Rape of Nanking, comfort women, and POWs who were used as slave laborers. The resolution was ultimately passed, and urged Congress to pass similar legislation.

Now, 7 years after the success of AJR27, I stand united with my colleagues in support of H. Res. 759. I commend my good friend Lane Evans for his tireless work on this issue, and I thank him for his courage and leadership. I look forward to carrying on his work and legacy after his retirement this year.

Given the wide bipartisan support for this resolution, as evidenced by its 55 co-sponsors; the endorsement of four major caucuses, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, and the Congressional Caucus on Korea; and its non-controversial language and recent passage by Unanimous Consent out of the House International Relations Committee, I simply cannot accept that H. Res. 759 is too controversial or lacks the importance to be on the suspension calendar.

It is only right that we provide justice for the victims of the Pacific theater with the same fervor as we did for those in the European theater of WWII. Congress has a moral duty to shed light on this issue and pass H. Res. 759 in order to send a powerful message to the government of Japan, and I am disappointed that this resolution is being ignored.

Mr. Speaker, Congress must not politicize a resolution that will give some peace of mind to the comfort women and those who have worked so hard on their behalf. I sincerely hope that H. Res. 759 will be brought to the House floor under suspension of the rules. In the name of historical reconciliation and human rights, moving this resolution forward is the right thing to do. We must hasten the day when the comfort women achieve the justice they deserve at last.

Mr. Speaker, the sexual enslavement of more than 200,000 young women and girls by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II is one of the most ignored and overlooked violations of human rights and international law in the 20th Century. These women, euphemistically known as ``Comfort Women,'' are now elderly and living their last years without a formal apology from the government that enslaved them. We cannot allow these survivors to fade into history without the closure that would come from official recognition, which is why my colleague, the Honorable Christopher Smith, and I introduced H. Res. 759, calling on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and take responsibility for its involvement in this unspeakable atrocity.

Our resolution has broad Congressional support with 55 bipartisan cosponsors, including a substantial number of Members from the International Relations Committee, and the Congressional Human Rights, Women's Rights, Asian Pacific American, and Korea Caucuses. Additionally, on September 13, 2006, the resolution was marked up in the International Relations committee by unanimous consent, and subsequently sent to the Speaker with an official request that it be considered on the floor under suspension of the rules. We have also seen an overwhelming response from the Korean American, Chinese American, Filipino American and Vietnamese American communities to the Speaker asking for the resolution to come before the entire House of Representatives. Amnesty International, as well as prominent Japanese- American Congressman and my close friend, Mike Honda, also strongly and vocally support H. Res. 759

Mr. Speaker, it is beyond my understanding why H. Res. 759 has not been scheduled for floor consideration. There has been no visible controversy about the bill from Members of Congress.

Moreover, many of the bills also marked up in the September 13 International Relations Committee hearing have made it to floor and passed by voice vote. It is deeply disturbing that the leadership of this House is not interested in supporting human rights or reiterating the role of the Congress to oppose human trafficking and other similar atrocities that have occurred throughout the world. This is not a Japanese issue, this is not a Korean issue, this is not an American issue; this is an issue about human dignity. And it is a slap in the face to those who have worked so hard to bring the Comfort Women issue to light on the international stage and especially to those who have been directly or indirectly affected by sexual slavery for this resolution to die at the hands of the Speaker after it successfully completed all the necessary procedural steps and demonstrated broad bipartisan support.

I urge the Speaker in the strongest terms possible to allow H. Res. 759 to come before the full House under suspension of the rules before the end of the 109th Congress, so that we may once and for all put this issue to rest, and leave this Congress having made a strong statement in support of human dignity.

Mr. Speaker, during World War II and the colonial occupation of Asia in the 1930s and 1940s, the Armed Forces of Imperial Japan, often in collusion with private traffickers, forced over 200,000 young women and girls into military brothels. These women were euphemistically known as ``comfort women.'' This despicable sexual enslavement of mostly Korean and Chinese women was officially commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan.

In one of the most extensive cases of human trafficking in the 20th century, women and girls throughout Asia were recruited by force, coercion, or deception, transported across national borders, and kept at the mercy of the Japanese military in subhuman conditions. They were raped, beaten, and forced to have abortions.

However, the horror of this experience did not end with the cessation of hostilities. Many comfort women were killed by Japanese soldiers after Japan surrendered. Some of these women could not return to their homes, and found themselves abandoned in hostile lands where they were viewed as collaborators.

Those who survived live daily with the painful memories of their enslavement, and many still suffer serious health effects as a result of their ordeal. Due to the shame connected to their captivity, many comfort women chose to conceal their enslavement and many others have come forward about it only in recent years.

While the facts of these crimes are incontrovertible, the Government of Japan has not officially accepted responsibility for this atrocity. Some textbooks used in Japan minimize the comfort women tragedy and distort the Japanese role in these and other crimes committed during World War II. Moreover, as recently as June 2005, Japanese Government officials praised the removal of the term ``comfort women'' from Japanese textbooks.

The Government of Japan's disregard for correcting past wrongs has been further demonstrated by its leaders' frequent pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine near the Imperial Palace in central Tokyo. The Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to the 2.5 million people who died in Japan's conflicts between 1853 and 1945 but also memorializes 14 convicted Class A war criminals that committed many atrocities during World War