U.S. sex slave resolution about human rights, not Japan-bashing: Honda

OSAKA — The U.S. House of Representatives will probably pass a nonbinding resolution calling on Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize and accept responsibility for forcing young women into sexual slavery during the war, around the time of the July 29 Upper House election, the resolution's chief architect said.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='Rep. Michael Honda and Rep. Jim Costa talk as they wait for a markup session on the sex slave resolution to start in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26 on Capitol Hill' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2007/nn20070714a1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='170'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Rep. Michael Honda –

and Rep. Jim Costa talk as they wait for a markup session on the sex slave resolution to start in the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 26 on Capitol Hill. AP PHOTO

"I feel comfortable that we have the votes for the resolution to pass through the full House, as there are now 158 cosponsors. The date for a vote is not yet set, but it should be before the congressional term ends in early August," Rep. Michael Honda, D-Calif., said Friday in a telephone interview with The Japan Times.