( CNN ) In 1944 , 16-year-old Yong Soo Lee of Taegu , Korea , was lured by a friend of hers to meet with an older Japanese man . The man took the two of them , and three other teenage girls , by train , then ship , to Taiwan . There , the girls were forced into sexual slavery , serving four to five Japanese soldiers every day for a year . Lee suffered beatings and torture , was infected with a venereal disease , was fed paltry amounts of food , faced temperatures so cold that ice formed on her body , and was never allowed outside . Only the end of World War II brought her relief . Lee is just one example of the over 200,000 women from Korea , China , the Philippines , Indonesia , and other Asian nations , who were kidnapped and sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II . These so-called `` comfort women '' suffered unimaginable physical , emotional , and psychological trauma . When Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses a Joint Meeting of Congress on Wednesday , he has an opportunity to do right by these women , and issue an unequivocal and irrefutable apology -- something that carries the weight of his government . In 2007 , in the very same chamber the prime minister will be issuing his address , the House of Representatives sent a profound message to the Japanese government by unanimously passing House Resolution 121 , which I authored . The resolution called on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge , apologize , and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Forces ' coercion of young women into sexual slavery ; publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the `` comfort women '' never occurred ; and educate current and future generations about this horrible crime . We are still waiting for their government to comply . In 2006 , during his first term , Prime Minister Abe unleashed an international firestorm of criticism when he stated that there was no evidence of Japanese coercion and complicity in setting up and running the `` comfort women '' system . And during his second term , Abe and his right-wing allies have continued to question history -- even trying to dilute and rewrite it . Last year , I , along with 17 of my House colleagues , wrote to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States , calling the timing and contents of the Japanese government report on the 1993 Kono statement : regrettable , unfortunate , unacceptable , and destabilizing . Last year , meanwhile , the Abe administration tried ( and failed ) to get the United Nations to partially retract their authoritative 1996 report , which called on Japan to apologize to the victims and pay reparations to survivors who had been forced into sex slavery . Most notably , earlier this year , the Japanese government tried unsuccessfully to change passages in U.S. history textbooks about the `` comfort women . '' Some say that Japan has already apologized enough and it 's time to move on . To those people I say , in light of these continued attempts to rewrite history , for every step forward the Japanese government takes toward peace and reconciliation , it takes two steps back . As someone who was put into an internment camp as an infant , I know firsthand that governments must not be ignorant of their pasts . In 1942 , during World War II , my government put aside the constitutional rights of Japanese Americans and systematically incarcerated 120,000 of us . We were U.S. citizens , but merely because of our ancestry , the government treated us like the enemy . Decades later , we , the Japanese American community , fought for an apology from our government . In 1988 , Congress passed , and President Ronald Reagan signed into law , the Civil Liberties Act , which was a formal apology to United States citizens of Japanese ancestry who were unjustly put into internment camps during World War II . Our government made a mistake , but they apologized for it , and healed many wounds as a result . Japan must now do the same . It must show the maturity of a democratic country , apologize for its mistake , and thereby gain the trust of her sister Asian nations . The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Prime Minister Abe to face Japan 's history . Germany knows something about this . After World War II , Germany engaged in a painful national `` coming to terms with the past '' that ripped open old wounds so that they could properly heal . Time is of the essence . Today , there are fewer than 100 surviving `` comfort women '' across the Asia-Pacific . Each year , this number declines . Ms. Lee is one of 53 remaining Korean survivors . The survivors are dying by the day . They deserve the justice and apology that has been due to them for the past 70 years . The opportunity to speak to a joint meeting of Congress is an honor that is reserved for heads of state of our closest allies . I will be in the House chamber when Prime Minister Abe delivers his address . Ms. Lee will attend as my guest . Both of us hope the Prime Minister will take the privilege of this opportunity and finally , and firmly , apologize , and commit to educating the future generation honestly and humbly . Ms. Lee and her sisters deserve no less .
Japanese American Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address Congress on Wednesday . Mike Honda : Abe must commit to educating future generation honestly , humbly .