MICHAEL M.

HONDA COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

17Th DIsTRIcT, CALIFORNIA SUBcOMMITTEEs:
COMMERCE, JusTICE, SCIENCE
WASHINGTON OFFICE: ~BOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERvICEs,
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June 27, 2014
His Excellency Kenichiro Sasae
Ambassador of Japan to the United States
Embassy of Japan
2520 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20008
Dear Ambassador Sasae:
We are writing to you today regarding the Government of Japans submission of the report on
the Kono Statement to the Diets Budget Committee Steering Board on June 20, 2014. We find
the timing and the release of the contents of the report both regrettable and unfortunate.
We fully realize that the Japanese Government was responding to a report requirement as passed
by the Budget Committee. As legislators ourselves, we fully appreciate and respect this
legislative process. However, the timing and the contents of the report destabilizes the Comfort
Women issue and draws unnecessary attention away from the plight of the survivors
themselves.
Furthermore, the reports findings suggest that the coercion by the Japanese Imperial Armed
Forces of the Comfort Women remains unconfirmed. This is unacceptable. The Comfort
Women are dying by the day, and they deserve every measure of dignity and respect. It is a
matter of fundamental womens rights and human rights.
In his public statement following the release of the report, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihida
Suga repeated that the Japanese Government will not revise the Kono Statement. We wish to
affirm this commitment and ask that you do all you can to ensure that it will not be altered.
Mr. Ambassador, in order to forge ahead with an enhanced U.S.-Korea-Japan trilateral
relationship, it is important to find resolution to this historical issue. It is our fervent hope that in
addressing the suffering of the Comfort Women, the Government of Japan will move forward
in a responsible and unequivocal manner.
Sincerely,
L4~~
MICHAEL M. HONDA
Member of Congress
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