Read What Gary Is Saying About The "Comfort Women" Resolution

Read What Gary Is Saying About The "Comfort Women" Resolution

"I want to thank and commend the Chairman, Mr. Lantos, for scheduling today's mark-up of H. Res. 121, which calls for the government of Japan to formally apologize to the women who were coerced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. I also want to commend our colleague Mr. Honda for his work in bringing the plight of the "comfort women" to our attention.

Mr. Chairman, two weeks ago 44 members of the Japanese Diet demonstrated beyond question why this resolution is necessary. The full page advertisement they placed in the Washington Post of June 14 proved beyond a doubt that they simply refuse to come to grips with Japan's responsibility for the treatment of as many as 200,000 mostly Korean and Chinese women during World War II. There is no disputing the fact that "comfort women" existed and no disputing the fact that they were abused as a deliberate policy of the Imperial Japanese Army. These facts have been documented by war crimes tribunals, the United Nations, even the government of Japan has acknowledged the abusive treatment of "comfort women". But to describe the women involved as willing participants in legalized prostitution and to assert that they were well compensated for their trouble just goes beyond the pale. The only word that comes to mind is: despicable.

It is true that successive Japanese Prime Ministers have written personal letters of apology to the surviving "comfort women", but no Prime Minister has made a public apology on behalf of the Japanese government. No bill addressing the concerns of "comfort women" has passed the Diet; no cabinet minister has issued a statement about them during a full session of the Diet; no Prime Minister has ever issued an official communiqué on the subject while on an overseas visit; nor has there ever been any Cabinet decision regarding "comfort women". In short, no clear, unequivocal, public, official apology has ever been made.

Initially I thought there were two issues here that make this resolution important and necessary. The first was that all of the "comfort women" deserve an apology and acceptance of responsibility that they perceive as genuine. The second was that calling attention to such atrocities reminds us in the Congress as well as the rest of the international community, that we must continue the work of preventing them from ever happening again. But the Diet members who signed the advertisement have given us a third reason to speak out because it is obvious that official Japan just doesn't get it. If those Diet members think they can ignore history or sweep its inconvenient facts under the rug or simply wait until the remaining few "comfort women" die, they are mistaken and it is our responsibility to tell them so.

Thank you Mr. Chairman, and I urge my colleagues to support the resolution."

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