[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E234-E235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INTRODUCTION OF THE COMFORT WOMEN RESOLUTION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the over 
200,000 ``comfort women'' in Asia who suffered unimaginable 
dehumanization by the Japanese Imperial Army during Japan's colonial 
and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s 
through the duration of World War II.
  These women, whose experiences were unprecedented in cruelty and were 
officially commissioned by the Government of Japan, endured gang rape, 
forced abortions, humiliation, and sexual violence resulting in 
mutilation, death, or eventual suicide--and to this date, they have 
still not received justice from this tragedy.
  Their hope is a modest one: That the government of Japan 
acknowledges, apologizes and accepts full historical responsibility for 
this crime.
  Today, I am introducing a resolution which calls on Japan to formally 
and unambiguously apologize and acknowledge the tragedy which the 
comfort women endured under its Imperial Army during World War II. Not 
only should Japan's Prime Minister issue a public apology, Japan must 
take responsibility unequivocally.
  Some question whether this resolution is necessary and warn that it 
could affect our nation's strong friendship and alliance with Japan. 
Some even argue that Japan has already apologized, and this resolution 
fails to recognize that. It is true that Japan's previous Prime 
Ministers have issued statements related to comfort women. However, it 
is clear that these statements are not viewed by the government of 
Japan with unequivocal respect, and the comfort women themselves do not 
consider them formal apologies. Japan has equivocated in its stance on 
this issue, which is made clear in their recent attempts to alter 
previous public statements and their school textbooks.
  For example, in 1993, Japan's then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono 
issued an encouraging statement regarding Japan's comfort women, which 
expressed the Government's sincere apologies and remorse for their 
ordeal. Today, some members of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party strive 
to review and even possibly rescind Secretary Kono's statement.
  Further, the Japanese government continues to seek to downplay the 
comfort women system in its textbooks. We must ask ourselves, if Japan 
has truly come to terms with its past in acknowledging what its 
Imperial Army forced upon these women, why are they suppressing the 
knowledge of this through education? Education on this tragedy is 
important to ensure that future violence against women, especially in 
conflicts, should not be tolerated or repeated. Textbook suppression, 
coupled with efforts to revise Secretary Kono's 1993 statement, is 
disheartening and indicates that Japan wavers in its apology to these 
women.

  I want to make it clear that I recognize and value the importance of 
our strong friendship with Japan. I appreciate Japan's efforts to 
provide monetary compensation to surviving comfort women through the 
Asia Women's Fund, a government-initiated and largely government-funded 
private foundation whose purpose was the carrying out of programs and 
projects with the aim of atonement for the comfort women. The Asia 
Women's Fund is to be disbanded on March 31, 2007, and while I agree 
that the Asia Women's Fund was important, the reality is that the 
majority of surviving

[[Page E235]]

comfort women refused to accept these funds, and that without an 
unambiguous and unequivocal apology from the government of Japan, the 
money was not significant to them.
  The purpose of this resolution is not to bash or humiliate Japan. 
This is about achieving justice for the few remaining women who 
survived this atrocity. We must recognize this grave human rights 
violation, which has remained unknown for so many years.
  Further, this resolution is intended to encourage and provide for 
reconciliation, as the U.S. Congress did when it passed H.R. 442, the 
Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which was a formal apology made to U.S. 
citizens of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly put into internment 
camps during World War II. As someone who was put into an internment 
camp at a young age, I know firsthand that we must not be ignorant of 
the past, and that reconciliation through government actions is long 
lasting.
  I would be remiss if I failed to recognize the efforts that my good 
friend and former colleague Lane Evans made to push this issue forward 
in Congress. I am proud to be carrying the torch that Lane passed on, 
and commend him for the hope he has instilled in the comfort women and 
the communities that have worked so hard on their behalf by bringing 
this issue to Congress.
  Madam Speaker, to put it frankly, the few surviving comfort women in 
the world who live with this burden are dying. We must help them 
achieve some peace of mind by moving this resolution forward. For the 
women who survived this brutality, this resolution demonstrates that 
our nation supports them and hears their voices calling for justice.

                          ____________________