121 Coalition campaign to raise awareness and support for House Res. 121, the "Comfort Women" resolution, continues. Now more than ever is the time to share the stories of survivors with those unfamiliar with the "Comfort Women" arm of WW2 History.
If and when House Res. 121 comes to a full vote, Congress must know that constituents understand and support the bill. Through the witness of the women's stories, we are moved to act.
The Miami chapter of 121 Coalition read excerpts from the sworn testimonies of survivors Lee Yong-Soo of Korea, Cristeta Alcober of the Philippines, Jan Ruff O'Hearn of Indonesia, Maria Rosa Henson of the Philippines, and Kim Koon Ja of China and screened the testimony of Dolor Molina at Hecht Residential College on Monday, June 25th -- the night before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs voted 39-2 to pass House Res. 121 onto Congress.
In response, students, faculty and administrators wrote letters to their Congressmen and women in support of House Res. 121. Here is a letter from one of the UM students:
Dear Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen,
I have recently read House Resolution 121 and strongly support it. While my personal experience with the cause to support the "comfort women" is minimal, I did grow up in a Jewish home with countless education on the Holocaust.
When I was guest to my first presentation on "comfort women," it conjured all the memories of listening to Holocaust survivors with scars, disabilities, and numbers on their arms to prove it. Still to this day, there are people who believe that the Holocaust did not occur.
When M. Evelina Galang spoke about how the Japanese government denies that these women were harmed, it tore me apart and mirrored the atrocities of the Holocaust.
In order for these events to never occur again, we must first admit that they happened in the past. I strongly encourage you to support House Resolution 121 so we never again have to experience our fellow humans going through and experiencing this pain.
Benjamin Viples
Resident Assistant
Stanford Residential College
University of Miami
Now more than ever, our Congresswomen and men need to hear from their constituents to understand that we support House Resolution 121 and the potential to heal, reconcile and move on.
Comments