Comfort Women Bill in US Congress

The House Resolution 759 expresses the House of Representatives of the United States' sentiment that the Government of Japan should formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for its sexual enslavement of "comfort women" during its occupation of Asia in the first half of the 20th century. The majority of the 200,000 victims were Korean girls and women, many of them in their teens.

The resolution is sponsored by Representative Lane Evans (D-IL), and co-sponsored with over 50 other members. Previous similar efforts were blocked successfully by powerful lobbyists for the Japanese government and those who believe that such a resolution would damage relations with Tokyo.

The new bill is reworked and slightly revised to gain wider support- for example, it does not mention any compensation for victims, and calls for Tokyo to "take responsibility"- rather than apologize. As a result this resolution has an unprecedented wide array of support from both parties.

Now that the bill is marked up, the resolution must move to the House Floor so that the entire Congress can vote.

This bill MUST be passed before Congress leaves session in October. Time is running out. On a graver angle- the few remaining comfort women in this world are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. Thousands of them have perished without any formal recognition of their plight- and have had to live with being slandered as prostitutes and willing partners in the vicious exploitation they were victim to.

Here is how you can help:
>> 1) Forward this email to all of your friends and family, as well as
>> to any listservs you're aware of. Post it on blogs and web boards.
>> Get the word out!
>> 2) Call, email, write and fax [all of the above!] your local
>> representative, and ask them to vote yes on this bill, and to urge
>> House leadership to bring the resolution to vote on the House Floor.
>> If you don't know who your representative is, go to
>> http://www.house.gov/.
>> 3) Contact the offices of both Majority Leader John Boehner and
>> Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and ask them to make sure this
>> resolution (House Resolution 759) is brought to the House Floor for a
>> full vote WITHOUT DELAY. If it does not get to a vote, it doesn't
>> matter how many congressmen are in support- it will die when Congress
>> leaves session, and with it any hopes of justice for these people.
>> All you have to say on the phone is, "Hi, I'm calling because I'd
>> like to make sure ______ can bring House Resolution 759 to a vote
>> this session- the resolution on Comfort Women." or something to that
>> effect.

Majority Leader John Boehner, H-107 Capitol, Washington, DC 20515- 6502, 202-225-4000, fax 202-225-5117
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, H-232 Capitol, Washington DC 20515-6501, 202-225-0600 or fax 202-226-1996

Please take just a moment of your day to do something great by doing something little for these women. Call in RIGHT NOW. Send an email. Send a fax. AND write a letter. Why not? If you would like more information, contact www.justiceforcomfortwomen.org

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

From Yong Soon Min:
It's notable how watered down the bill had to be to gain broad based support thus far and still an uphill struggle to get the bill voted on.
I'm staying at a residence located near the Japanese embassy in Seoul and on every Wed morning, there is comfort women protest. This week there were 7 of the comfort women seated in the front row. They all looked well enough but getting on in years. It's heartbreaking just how long and seemingly endless is the journey for justice.


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