Rep. Mike Honda, in a statement honoring retiring colleague Rep. Lane Evans, said he looks forward "to seeking the justice the comfort women deserve."
The House International Relations Committee in September passed a resolution that says the government of Japan should acknowledge and take responsibility for the comfort women, an euphemism for those coerced to serve sex to Japanese soldiers at frontline brothels.
It was the first resolution passed by US legislature that blames Tokyo for refuting the existence and involvement in the massive sexual enslavement.
But it was automatically shelved as of Friday with the end of the incumbent Congress.
Evans has been the driving force behind the resolution that passed with bipartisan support in the House but not put to vote by the full Congress.
"On a scale that reaches to the other side of the world, Lane Evans is a hero who has tirelessly fought to provide justice for over 200,000 comfort women who were forced into sex slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II," Honda said in his statement.
"I want to assure him that I will do my best to continue his work and legacy on this issue after his retirement this year."
