25 June 2003
Resolution Calls for Japanese Apology to World War II Comfort Women
(H. Con. Res. 226 says Japan should pay reparations to victims) (1460) A Vietnam era Marine Corps veteran is calling on the Japanese government to issue "a clear and unambiguous apology" for its policy of enslaving young women to serve as "comfort women" for Japanese troops during World War II. Representative Lane Evans (Democrat of Illinois) submitted House Concurrent Resolution 226 (H. Con. Res. 226) to the House of Representatives June 23. The proposed resolution also urges Japan to "immediately pay reparations to the victims of these crimes." H. Con. Res. 226 was referred to the House Committee on International Relations for action. Among the resolution's 26 co-sponsors are Representative Frank Wolf (Republican of Virginia) and Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat of California), the co-chairmen of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. According to the proposed resolution, the enslavement of comfort women was "officially commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan to include gang rape, forced abortions, sexual violence, human trafficking, and numerous other crimes against humanity." H. Con. Res. 226 adds that comfort women were girls "as young as 13 years of age or women separated from their own children." The comfort women, it adds, were either "abducted from their homes or lured into sexual servitude under false pretenses." H. Con. Res. 226 went on to note that many comfort women were eventually "killed or forced to commit suicide upon cessation of hostilities." It said that there were as many as 200,000 women put to use as comfort women by the Japanese, but very few survive today. H. Con. Res. 226 calls on the Japanese government to educate future generations about what it did to the comfort women, and to "publicly refute claims that the subjugation and enslavement" of comfort women never happened. "For too long, these women have had to live in silence and shame," Evans said in remarks to the House of Representatives. Evans added that the sexual enslavement "of hundreds of thousands of women should not disappear into history without a full apology and compensation." Evans, an eleven-term lawmaker, is the ranking minority member on the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs and serves on the House Armed Services Committee as well. He has often championed in Congress the rights of those who suffered from war, and in 1990, the Illinois Democrat was awarded the Vietnam Veterans of America's first annual President's Award for Outstanding Achievement. In 1994, Evans received the AMVET's Silver Helmet Award for his work on behalf of veterans and their families. Following are the texts of House Concurrent Resolution 226 and Representative Lane Evans introductory remarks on the proposed legislation from the Congressional Record: (begin text) HCON 226 IH 108th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 226 Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Japan should formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the sexual enslavement of young women during colonial occupation of Asia and World War II, known to the world as `comfort women', and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 23, 2003 Mr. EVANS (for himself, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. HONDA, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Ms. LEE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. TOWNS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. WOLF, Ms. SOLIS, Ms. WATSON, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. SCHIFF, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. LINDA T. SANCHEZ of California, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LAMPSON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. SANDERS, and Mr. LIPINSKI) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress that the Government of Japan should formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the sexual enslavement of young women during colonial occupation of Asia and World War II, known to the world as `comfort women', and for other purposes. Whereas the Government of Japan during the colonial occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands during World War II organized the subjugation and kidnapping of young women for the sole purpose of sexual servitude, known to the world as `comfort women'; Whereas the enslavement of comfort women was officially commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan to include gang rape, forced abortions, sexual violence, human trafficking, and numerous other crimes against humanity; Whereas the comfort women were girls as young as 13 years of age or women separated from their own children; Whereas the comfort women were either abducted from their homes or lured into sexual servitude under false pretenses; Whereas many comfort women were eventually killed or forced to commit suicide upon cessation of hostilities; Whereas historians conclude that as many as 200,000 women were enslaved but very few survive today; Whereas the Government of Japan did not fully disclose these war crimes during negotiations for reparations with former enemies and colonial states and further it did not officially acknowledge the crimes until 1994; Whereas the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) concluded after a 1993 mission of inquiry that `these women are entitled to the fullest possible relief permissible in international law'; Whereas the Government of Japan has not issued state reparations to former comfort women or acknowledged governmental responsibility for this crime against humanity; and Whereas the United Nations Special Rapporteur on violence against women concludes that a private fund to compensate comfort women `is a clear statement [of the Government of Japan] denying legal responsibility for the situation of these women and . . . does not vindicate the legal claims of comfort women under public international law': Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that the Government of Japan-- (1) should formally issue a clear and unambiguous apology for the sexual enslavement of young women during the colonial occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands during World War II, known to the world as `comfort women'; (2) should immediately pay reparations to the victims of these crimes; (3) should educate future generations about this horrible crime against humanity; and (4) should publicly refute claims that the subjugation and enslavement of comfort women never occurred. (end text of resolution) (begin text of remarks) CALLING ON JAPAN TO APOLOGIZE TO WOMEN FORCED INTO SEXUAL SLAVERY DURING AND PRIOR TO WORLD WAR II HON. LANE EVANS OF ILLINOIS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2003 Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, today I introduce a resolution calling on Japan to issue an apology to the women and girls forced into sexual slavery during and prior to World War II. During the war and the colonial occupation of South East Asia, Japan forced over 200,000 young women and girls, known euphemistically as "comfort women" by the Japanese, into military brothels. This sexual enslavement of mostly Korean and Chinese women was officially commissioned and orchestrated by the Government of Japan. Women throughout Southeast Asia were recruited by force, coercion, or deception, transported across national borders, and kept at the mercy of the Japanese military in subhuman conditions. They endured such horrific crimes as gang rape, forced abortions, sexual violence, and human trafficking. However, the horror of this experience did not end with the cessation of hostilities. Many comfort women were killed by Japanese soldiers after Japan surrendered. In addition, some of these women had no family or homes to return to, and found themselves abandoned in hostile lands where they were viewed as collaborators. The few remaining survivors live daily with the painful memories of their enslavement, and many still suffer serious health effects as a result of violent physical and sexual abuse and sexually transmitted diseases contracted during their ordeal. While the facts of these crimes are incontrovertible, Japan has not officially acknowledged guilt or assisted the victims. Japan has paid $1.3 billion in war reparations, yet none of it has gone to the victims of sexual enslavement and not one person has been tried for their crimes. Japan waited over 44 years to even acknowledge the use of comfort women and then only issued a very ambiguous apology. Japanese textbooks rarely mention this enslavement and extreme nationalists still deny Japan's involvement. A private fund set up to compensate comfort women is, according to the United Nations Special Rapporteur's reports, a complete denial of legal responsibility. There are only a handful of these victims still alive. For too long, these women have had to live in silence and shame. My resolution calls for Japan to issue a clear and unambiguous apology, render state compensation to the victims, and provide historical accountability for these horrific crimes. The sexual enslavement of hundreds of thousands of women should not disappear into history without a full apology and compensation. (end text) (Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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