[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 93 (Monday, June 23, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CALLING ON JAPAN TO APOLOGIZE TO WOMEN FORCED INTO SEXUAL SLAVERY 
                    DURING AND PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 23, 2003

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce a resolution calling on 
Japan to issue an apology to the women and girls forced into sexual 
slavery during and prior to World War II.
  During the war and the colonial occupation of South East Asia, Japan 
forced over 200,000 young women and girls, known euphemistically as 
``comfort women'' by the Japanese, into military brothels. This sexual 
enslavement of mostly Korean and Chinese women was officially 
commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan. Women 
throughout Southeast 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 endured such 
horrific crimes as gang rape, forced abortions, sexual violence, and 
human trafficking.
  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. In addition, some of these women had no family 
or homes to return to, and found themselves abandoned in hostile lands 
where they were viewed as collaborators. The few remaining survivors 
live daily with the painful memories of their enslavement, and many 
still suffer serious health effects as a result of violent physical and 
sexual abuse and sexually transmitted diseases contracted during their 
ordeal.
  While the facts of these crimes are incontrovertible, Japan has not 
officially acknowledged guilt or assisted the victims. Japan has paid 
$1.3 billion in war reparations, yet none of it has gone to the victims 
of sexual enslavement and not one person has been tried for their 
crimes. Japan waited over 44 years to even acknowledge the use of 
comfort women and then only issued a very ambiguous apology. Japanese 
textbooks rarely mention this enslavement and extreme nationalists 
still deny Japan's involvement. A private fund set up to compensate 
comfort women is, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur's 
reports, a complete denial of legal responsibility.
  There are only a handful of these victims still alive. For too long, 
these women have had to live in silence and shame. My resolution calls 
for Japan to issue a clear and unambiguous apology, render state 
compensation to the victims, and provide historical accountability for 
these horrific crimes. The sexual enslavement of hundreds of thousands 
of women should not disappear into history without a full apology and 
compensation.

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