H. Res. 121 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
July 30, 2007. 
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, offi-
cially 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 un-
precedented 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 cen-
tury; 
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 state-
ment by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the 
‘‘comfort women’’, which expressed the Government’s sin-
cere apologies and remorse for their ordeal;
•HRES 121 EH 
Whereas the Government of Japan did sign the 1921 Inter-
national Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in 
Women and Children and supported the 2000 United Na-
tions Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, 
Peace, and Security which recognized the unique impact 
on women of armed conflict; 
Whereas the House of Representatives commends Japan’s ef-
forts to promote human security, human rights, demo-
cratic values, and rule of law, as well as for being a sup-
porter 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 inter-
national community; 
Whereas the House of Representatives commends those Japa-
nese officials and private citizens whose hard work and 
compassion resulted in the establishment in 1995 of Ja-
pan’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 govern-
ment-initiated and largely government-funded private 
foundation whose purpose was the carrying out of pro-
•HRES 121 EH 
grams and projects with the aim of atonement for the 
maltreatment and suffering of the ‘‘comfort women’’, 
came to an end on March 31, 2007, and the Fund has 
been disbanded as of that date: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Represent-
atives that the Government of Japan— 
(1) should formally acknowledge, apologize, and ac-
cept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal 
manner for its Imperial Armed Forces’ coercion of young 
women into sexual slavery, known to the world as ‘‘com-
fort women’’, during its colonial and wartime occupation 
of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through 
the duration of World War II; 
(2) would help to resolve recurring questions about 
the sincerity and status of prior statements if the Prime 
Minister of Japan were to make such an apology as a 
public statement in his official capacity; 
(3) should clearly and publicly refute any claims 
that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the ‘‘com-
fort women’’ for the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces 
never occurred; and 
(4) should educate current and future generations 
about this horrible crime while following the rec-
•HRES 121 EH 
ommendations of the international community with re-
spect to the ‘‘comfort women’’. 
Attest: 
Clerk.