[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 33 (Thursday, February 27, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   COMMENDING CHINA FOR CALLING UPON JAPAN TO ``FACE UP TO HISTORY'' 
                   REGARDING ``COMFORT WOMEN'' ISSUE

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                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 27, 2014

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend China for 
calling upon Japan to ``face up to history'' for forcing women and 
girls, many from countries including China, the Republic of Korea, 
Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands, to sexually serve Japanese 
soldiers during World War II.
  For too long Japan's government has tried to downplay and deny the 
crimes of its Imperial military. Such defiance goes against human 
conscience. How Japan chooses to face its past will determine how it 
goes into the future. Its history must not be forgotten and must not be 
denied and distorted.
  I stand with China in urging the Japanese government to acknowledge 
its history and apologize for it with concrete actions that will win 
the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community. I 
also commend the Chinese Foreign Ministry for denouncing Japan's 
enslavement of these women and young girls during World War II as ``a 
serious crime against humanity.''
  I am appreciative of the work of Congressman Mike Honda and former 
Congressman Lane Evans for introducing bills calling upon Japan to 
apologize. As Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign 
Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, 
the first hearing I ever held was about this issue. The hearing, held 
on February 15, 2007, was the first time a hearing on this issue had 
ever been held in the history of the U.S. Congress, and I will always 
be grateful for the three women who testified.
  Three survivors--Ms. Yong Soo Lee, Ms. Jan Ruff O'Herne and Ms. Koon 
Ja Kim--bravely testified before the Subcommittee and, consequently, 
their first-hand accounts of their suffering will stand forevermore on 
the official record of the Subcommittee as a witness against the 
abhorrent actions of the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces. After hearing 
the testimony of these three women, I have never been the same. I will 
never rest until justice is served.
  And so, I commend my close colleague, Congressman Mike Honda, a 
Japanese-American, who also personally testified at the hearing about 
H. Res. 121, a resolution he introduced calling upon Japan to 
acknowledge, apologize and accept historical responsibility for its 
Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery. H. 
Res. 121, which I co-sponsored, subsequently passed the House on July 
30, 2007. I believe it passed because of the three survivors who 
testified as witnesses.
  Regrettably, Japan is again about the business of trying to whitewash 
its crimes. But, it is my sincere hope that the international community 
will hold Japan accountable and insist on a formal apology. In this 
cause, all peaceful nations should hold together and this is why, once 
more, I publicly commend China for urging Japan to ``face up to its 
history.''

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