House committee passes comfort women resolution for first time
A U.S. House committee passed Thursday the first resolution ever holding Japan accountable for sexual enslavement of women during its colonial occupation of Asia in the past century.
The International Relations Committee endorsed H.Res. 759 in a consensus vote to say Japan should formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for enslaving young women, known as "comfort women."
Two previous resolutions on comfort women, submitted in 2001 and last year, had been shelved mainly due to Japanese lobbying.
[For background see Allexis Dudden, "US Congressional Resolution Calls on Japan to Accept Responsibility for Wartime Comfort Women" http://hnn.us/articles/24291.html]
The International Relations Committee endorsed H.Res. 759 in a consensus vote to say Japan should formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for enslaving young women, known as "comfort women."
Two previous resolutions on comfort women, submitted in 2001 and last year, had been shelved mainly due to Japanese lobbying.
[For background see Allexis Dudden, "US Congressional Resolution Calls on Japan to Accept Responsibility for Wartime Comfort Women" http://hnn.us/articles/24291.html]