Japan should ponder US comfort women bill

On July 30 the US House of Representatives deliberated a bill that would demand the Japanese government formally admit that the country's army forced many women into sex slavery during World War II, apologize to the victims and accept its historical responsibility.

After just 35 minutes, those present during the House plenary session unanimously approved the resolution. Democratic Representative Mike Honda, who sponsored the non-binding act, said afterward: "The passage of the comfort women resolution is not the end, but the beginning. It is sending a strong signal to Japan's political community."

This is the eighth such motion tabled by the House of Representatives since 1996, but the first to pass the lower chamber of Congress. None of the previous seven reached the voting stage.