A ceremony was held in Washington Tuesday marking the fifth anniversary of the passage of a resolution condemning Japan’s role in forcing Asian women into sexual slavery during World War Two.

The event at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center was attended by lawmakers Congressman Michael Honda, who sponsored the bill, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, among others.

Members of Korean-American associations and Korean groups as well as Amnesty International and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People were also present. Two former sex slaves who protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul every Wednesday attended as well.

The resolution called on the Japanese government to formally acknowledge and apologize for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young Asian women, known as "comfort women," into sexual slavery during the early 20th century.