WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 121 Coalition, a
 national coalition representing nearly 200 civic organizations committed to
 defending the human rights of "Comfort Women" survivors, enthusiastically
 welcomes today's passage of House Resolution 121 in the House Committee on
 Foreign Affairs. The resolution, designated as H.Res. 121, was introduced
 by Representative Michael Honda (D-California) last January. It expresses
 "the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Japan
 should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical
 responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed
 Force's coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as
 'comfort women,' during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the
 Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II."
     H.Res. 121 has received bipartisan support from 149 co-sponsors and
 today's vote is an indication that this historic resolution is headed for
 passage by the full House of Representatives. "We commend the leadership of
 Chairman Tom Lantos for championing H.Res.121 before the full Committee on
 Foreign Affairs," said Annabel Park, National Coordinator for the 121
 Coalition. "We now respectfully ask Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority
 Leader Steny Hoyer to schedule consideration of H.Res.121 on the House
 Floor as soon as possible."
     Members of the coalition feel that passage of H.Res.121 will send an
 important message to the Government of Japan that the remaining "Comfort
 Women" survivors deserve justice and the restoration of their fundamental
 dignity, and that truth, reconciliation, and stability in the region
 require Japan's acknowledgment of historical responsibility for its World
 War II-era policies. From 1932 through the end of World War II, during its
 colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands, the
 Government of Japan organized the systematic trafficking, enslavement, and
 brutal rape of 200,000 girls and women. H.Res.121 calls on the Government
 of Japan to officially acknowledge and accept responsibility in a clear and
 unequivocal manner for organizing and maintaining this system of sexual
 slavery.
     The 121 Coalition, comprised of human rights and pan-Asian civic
 organizations from across the United States, remains deeply committed and
 fundamentally united in our support for this important human and women's
 rights issue.
     For more information about H.Res. 121, please visit
 http://www.support121.org.
 
 

SOURCE 121 Coalition