[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 40 (Thursday, March 8, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E486-E487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         NO COMFORT FOR COMFORT WOMEN SURVIVORS OF WORLD WAR II

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VITO FOSSELLA

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 7, 2007

  Mr. FOSSELLA. Madam Speaker, on January 31, 2007, my good friend and 
colleague, Mr. Honda, introduced H. Res. 121 on Comfort Women, of which 
I am a proud co-sponsor. Given recent events, the necessity and 
imperative to pass H. Res. 121 by the full House of Representatives is 
now more important than ever. It is my hope that this non-binding 
resolution will signal to our friend and ally, the Government of Japan, 
that working to

[[Page E487]]

officially resolve its longstanding historical issues will not only 
restore honor and dignity to the Comfort Women survivors, but bring out 
greater trust and cooperation among our other friends and allies in the 
region.
  A formal apology by the Japanese government would help bring a sense 
of peace and healing to the women who were abused as well as to their 
families. Many of these innocent women were taken at a young age and 
suffered unspeakable and disgusting crimes that destroyed their lives. 
An apology cannot undo this damage, but it is important for the victims 
to know that the Japanese government has accepted responsibility in a 
clear an unequivocal manner. I believe an official apology would help 
strengthen and improve relations between our friends and allies in the 
Northeast Asian region.
  Without objection, I wish to insert into the Congressional Record an 
editorial on this issue that appeared in the New York Times on Tuesday, 
March 6, appropriately entitled: ``No Comfort.''

                [From The New York Times, March 6, 2007]

                               No Comfort

       What part of ``Japanese Army sex slaves'' does Japan's 
     prime minister, Shinzo Abe, have so much trouble 
     understanding and apologizing for?
       The underlying facts have long been beyond serious dispute. 
     During World War II, Japan's Army set up sites where women 
     rounded up from Japanese colonies like Korea were expected to 
     deliver sexual services to Japan's soldiers.
       These were not commercial brothels. Force, explicit and 
     implicit, was used in recruiting these women. What went on in 
     them was serial rape, not prostitution. The Japanese Army's 
     involvement is documented in the government's own defense 
     files. A senior Tokyo official more or less apologized for 
     this horrific crime in 1993. The unofficial fund set up to 
     compensate victims is set to close down this month.
       And Mr. Abe wants the issue to end there. Last week, he 
     claimed that there was no evidence that the victims had been 
     coerced. Yesterday, he grudgingly acknowledged the 1993 quasi 
     apology, but only as part of a pre-emptive declaration that 
     his government would reject the call, now pending in the 
     United States Congress, for an official apology. America 
     isn't the only country interested in seeing Japan belatedly 
     accept full responsibility. Korea and China are also 
     infuriated by years of Japanese equivocations over the issue.
       Mr. Abe seems less concerned with repairing Japan's sullied 
     international reputation than with appealing to a large 
     right-wing faction within his Liberal Democratic Party that 
     insists that the whole shameful episode was a case of healthy 
     private enterprise. One ruling party lawmaker, in his 
     misplaced zeal to exculpate the Army, even suggested the 
     offensive analogy of a college that outsourced its cafeteria 
     to a private firm.
       Japan is only dishonored by such efforts to contort the 
     truth.
       The 1993 statement needs to be expanded upon, not whittled 
     down. Parliament should issue a frank apology and provide 
     generous official compensation to the surviving victims. It 
     is time for Japan's politicians--starting with Mr. Abe--to 
     recognize that the first step toward overcoming a shameful 
     past is acknowledging it.

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