Amendments to H.R. 121

AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
TO H. RES. 121
OFFERED BY MR. LANTOS OF CALIFORNIA AND
MS. ROS-LEHTINEN OF FLORIDA

Strike the preamble and insert the following:

Whereas the Government of Japan, during its colonial and
    wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from
    the 1930s through the duration of World War II, officially
    commissioned the acquisition of young women for
    the sole purpose of sexual servitude to its Imperial
    Armed Forces, who became known to the world as ianfu
    or ‘‘comfort women’’;

Whereas the ‘‘comfort women’’ system of forced military
    prostitution by the Government of Japan, considered unprecedented    
    in its cruelty and magnitude, included gang
    rape, forced abortions, humiliation, and sexual violence
    resulting in mutilation, death, or eventual suicide in one
    of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century;

Whereas some new textbooks used in Japanese schools seek
    to downplay the ‘‘comfort women’’ tragedy and other
    Japanese war crimes during World War II;

Whereas Japanese public and private officials have recently expressed a  
    desire to dilute or rescind the 1993 statement by Chief Cabinet    
    Secretary Yohei Kono on the ‘‘comfort women’’, which expressed the
    Government’s sincere apologies and remorse for their ordeal;

Whereas the Government of Japan did sign the 1921 International
    Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in
    Women and Children and supported the 2000 United Nations Security  
    Council Resolution 1325 on Women,
    Peace, and Security which recognized the unique impact
    of armed conflict on women;

Whereas the House of Representatives commends Japan’s efforts
    to promote human security, human rights, democratic
    values, and rule of law, as well as for being a supporter
    of Security Council Resolution 1325;

Whereas the United States-Japan alliance is the cornerstone
    of United States security interests in Asia and the Pacific
    and is fundamental to regional stability and prosperity;

Whereas, despite the changes in the post-cold war strategic
    landscape, the United States-Japan alliance continues to
    be based on shared vital interests and values in the Asia-
    Pacific region, including the preservation and promotion
    of political and economic freedoms, support for human
    rights and democratic institutions, and the securing of
    prosperity for the people of both countries and the international
    community;

Whereas the House of Representatives commends those Japanese
    officials and private citizens whose hard work and
    compassion resulted in the establishment in 1995 of Japan’s private    
    Asian Women’s Fund;

Whereas the Asian Women’s Fund has raised $5,700,000 to
    extend ‘‘atonement’’ from the Japanese people to the
    comfort women; and

Whereas the mandate of the Asian Women’s Fund, a government
    initiated and largely government-funded private
    foundation whose purpose was the carrying out of pro-
    grams and projects with the aim of atonement for the
    maltreatment and suffering of the ‘‘comfort women’’,
    comes to an end on March 31, 2007, and the Fund is
    to be disbanded as of that date:

Now, therefore, be it Strike all after the resolved clause and insert the following:

That it is the sense of the House of Representatives
that the Government of Japan—
1     (1) should formally acknowledge, apologize, and
2     accept historical responsibility in a clear and un-
3    equivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force’s co-
4    ercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to
5     the world as ‘‘comfort women’’, during its colonial
6     and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Is-
7    lands from the 1930s through the duration of World
8     War II;
9     (2) would help to resolve recurring questions
10     about the sincerity and status of prior statements if
11     the Prime Minister of Japan were to make such an
12     apology as a public statement in his official capacity;
13     (3) should clearly and publicly refute any claims
14     that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the
15     ‘‘comfort women’’ for the Japanese Imperial Armed
16     Forces never occurred; and

1     (4) should educate current and future genera-
2    tions about this horrible crime while following the
3     recommendations of the international community
4     with respect to the ‘‘comfort women’’.
* kavc님에 의해서 게시물 이동되었습니다 (2008-07-29 05:50)