[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages 5590-5591] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]COMFORT WOMEN ______ HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA of california in the house of representatives Tuesday, March 6, 2007 Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, I rise today in shock and disappointment at recent news from Japan, where it was reported that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has denied the historical fact that the Japanese Imperial Army forced as many as 200,000 women into sex slavery during the Second World War, and publicly stated that Japan will not issue an apology, even if a resolution is passed in the United States House of Representatives. On February 15, a hearing on this issue was held by the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific of this House's Committee on Foreign Affairs. This was truly a historic occasion, because it brought three survivors of the Comfort Women horrors to Washington to tell their very real, very personal stories. Not only did that hearing give us an opportunity to reflect on one of the darker episodes of human history, it provided us with a chance to make history by bringing that darkness and forgotten tragedy to light and justice. Those three women, now advanced in years--Jan Ruff O'Herne, Yong Soo Lee, and Koon Ja Kim--traveled thousands of miles to bring their stories to us, stories which were for many decades kept only in their hearts for reasons best understood only by those who had to endure what these women--and some 200,000 others throughout Asia--had to endure. Some might ask: Why, more than 60 years after the end of the Second World War, are we discussing the ordeals of the so-called Comfort Women? Shouldn't this be considered a mere footnote to history? Aren't there more important or more pressing issues at hand in the early years of the 21st century? Those who ask such questions fail to comprehend the lasting relevance of the experience of these women during the war, and of the continuing, obstinate failure, in the face of overwhelming evidence and international scrutiny, of the Government of Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize and accept unequivocal responsibility for their suffering and torture. The recent news from Tokyo and Prime Minister Abe's inexplicable denial adds greater resonance to our exploration of this topic. One Japanese Diet Member said, with no apparent irony, that the Comfort Women brothels were no different than a buffet lunchroom. Nariaki Nakayama said bluntly: ``Some say it is useful to compare the brothels to college cafeterias run by private companies, who recruit their own staff, procure foodstuffs and set prices.'' Madam Speaker, without objection, I wish to insert into the Congressional Record an article on this issue that appeared in the New York Times on Thursday, March 1, reporting Prime Minister Abe's remarks. Abe Rejects Japan's Files on War Sex (By Norimitsu Onishi) Tokyo, March 1.--Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denied Thursday that Japan's military had forced foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II, contradicting the Japanese government's longtime official position. Mr. Abe's statement was the clearest so far that the government was preparing to reject [[Page 5591]] a 1993 government statement that acknowledged the military's role in setting up brothels and forcing, either directly or indirectly, women into sexual slavery. That declaration also offered an apology to the women, euphemistically called ``comfort women.'' ``There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it,'' Mr. Abe told reporters. ``So, in respect to this declaration, you have to keep in mind that things have changed greatly.'' The United States House of Representatives has begun debating a resolution that would call on Tokyo to ``apologize for and acknowledge'' the military's role in wartime sex slavery. But at the same time, in keeping with a recent trend to revise Japan's wartime history, a group of conservatives in the governing Liberal Democratic Party is stepping up calls to rescind the 1993 declaration. Mr. Abe, whose approval ratings have been plummeting over a series of scandals and perceived weak leadership, seemed to side with this group. A nationalist who has led efforts to revise wartime history, Mr. Abe softened his tone after becoming prime minister last fall. In fact, he first said he recognized the validity of the declaration, angering his conservative base. ``Some say it is useful to compare the brothels to college cafeterias run by private companies, who recruit their own staff, procure foodstuffs and set prices,'' Nariaki Nakayama, the leader of 120 lawmakers who want to revise the declaration, said Thursday. ``Where there's demand, business crops up,'' Mr. Nakayama said, according to The Associated Press. ``But to say women were forced by the Japanese military into service is off the mark. This issue must be reconsidered, based on truth, for the sake of Japanese honor.'' Historians believe some 200,000 women--Koreans, Chinese, Taiwanese, Filipinos, as well as Japanese, Dutch and other European women--served in Japanese military brothels. For decades, Japan denied that its military had been involved, calling the brothels private enterprises and the women prostitutes. But in 1992, a Japanese historian, Yoshiaki Yoshimi, outraged by government denials, went to the Self-Defense Agency's library and unearthed, after two days of searching, documents revealing military involvement in establishing brothels. One was titled ``Regarding the Recruitment of Women for Military Brothels.'' Faced with this evidence, the government acknowledged its role and issued the declaration. But the response angered people across the political spectrum. The women and their supporters said that the government was not fully acknowledging its responsibility because the declaration was issued by Yohei Kono, then chief cabinet secretary, and not adopted by Parliament. It is known inside Japan simply as the ``Kono Statement.'' What is more, supporters accused the government of evading direct responsibility by establishing a private, nongovernment fund to compensate the women. Many former sex slaves have refused to accept compensation from this fund. But conservatives said the declaration went too far in acknowledging the military's role in recruiting the women. While the documents showed that the military established the facilities, Mr. Yoshimi did not find documentation that the military had forcibly recruited the women. Conservatives have seized on this distinction to attack the declaration. Supporters of the women say that the Japanese authorities famously burned incriminating documents or kept them hidden. At the same time, many former sex slaves have stepped forward in recent years with their stories. Three testified in the United States Congress recently, saying that Japanese soldiers had kidnapped them and forced them to have sex with dozens of soldiers a day. Given this recent news report, Madam Speaker, it becomes even clearer that the experience of the Comfort Women is not just an episode that belongs on the backburner of history. Instead, it is a vivid reminder that the human rights of women around the world are never fully secure. We know that rape, sexual abuse and sometimes murder of women and girls in war are still committed by armies and paramilitary forces in various countries. One thinks of Darfur, of Bosnia, of East Timor. I am sure that Members of this House and those listening to these proceedings can think of other examples. Denial of the unimaginable atrocities committed by Imperial Japan's Armed Forces against the Comfort Women during World War II should not be tolerated. Neither are they to be forgotten nor swept under the rug by those who hope the subject will go away simply because the victims are growing old and will soon be gone. The fact that some political leaders in modern Japan hold onto the view that the Comfort Women issue is a ``historic fabrication'' is, in a word, appalling. The Japan Times also recently interviewed Yasuji Kaneko, an 87 year old former foot soldier in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He stated that he ``still remembers the screams of the countless women he raped in China as a foot soldier . . . They cried out, but it didn't matter to us whether the women lived or died . . . We were the Emperor's soldiers. Whether in military brothels or in the villages, we raped without reluctance.'' His statement was no historical fabrication. It is our moral imperative to act and act courageously on this issue. I am a strong proponent of encouraging our friend and ally, the Government of Japan, to set the record straight on the Comfort Women tragedy and educate its future generations properly about what occurred. In doing so, Japan will take an important step in our collective aim to eliminate violence against women in war by making it unambiguously unacceptable. It is unacceptable to view rape as merely endemic to war, or an incidental adjunct to armed conflict. Rape is a unique weapon focused on non-combatants and intended to instill terror in its victims and to demonstrate the power of the perpetrators. It is a truly uncivilized act, and defending Imperial Japan's widespread use of rape during its Asian conquests is beneath modern, democratic Japan's better values and aspirations. Madam Speaker, on January 31, along with six of our colleagues, I introduced House Resolution 121, which addresses the issue of protecting the human rights of the Comfort Women. The denial by Prime Minister Abe of Japan that Comfort Women were forced into sexual slavery is unacceptable and stands to underscore why passage of H. Res. 121 is important. It is my hope that we will be able to have a full vote by the House of Representatives sooner rather than later. I would also like to thank the Comfort Women survivors--Jan Ruff O'Herne, Yong-Soo Lee, and Koon-Ja Kim--for journeying so far last month to testify on behalf of their 200,000 sisters who suffered under Imperial Japan. Their courage and the dignity with which they have lived their lives deserve our admiration and utmost respect. ____________________