[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1948]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING ON THE SPEAKER TO BRING H. RES. 759 TO THE FLOOR FOR IMMEDIATE 
                             CONSIDERATION

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 29, 2006

  Mr. EVANS. 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.

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