Dear Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
I have been a resident in your district for five years. Earlier this month, I wrote to you about House Res. 121. I have started a petition to House Speaker Pelosi. It began as a petition of support from the American people, but has quickly turned into an international document of support for Surviving Comfort Women of WWII. In two weeks we have gathered 1096 international citizens who demand the Japanese government take responsiblity for their past actions.
I understand you are on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. I urge you to support House Res. 121.
As a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in 2001, I explored the stories and the lives of former Filipina Comfort Women of WWII, going with women to their sights of abduction and to the garrisons they where they were held for weeks, months and years, suffering under the Japanese Imperial Army's systematic raping and enslavement of young Filipinas. I have had the honor of getting to know 14 women and their families and have seen the effects that experience has made on their lives.
The recent remarks and false apology of Prime Minister Abe demontrate that he has not heard or understood the impact WWII and his army have made on these women's lives. It is unacceptable.
I'd like to offer my help and research to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, should you need it, to better understand the struggles of all 200,000 women taken hostage during WWII.
I invite you to visit the blog I have set up in support of the Comfort Women: Labanforthelolas.blogspot.com and to view the ongoing petition at any time: http://www.gopetition.com/online/11466.html.
Sincerely,
M. Evelina Galang
Assistant Professor, English
University of Miami
PS: United States citizens reading this post, please write your Congressperson and ask him or her to research the stories and to support House Res. 121. Do it for the women in your family. Do it for the lolas. Click the link under Activate Your Pen to find your representative's contact information. Thanks!
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