[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 84 (Tuesday, June 15, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GROWING CRISIS ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA

  Mr. HAYWORTH. Mr. Speaker, I wish you and my colleagues in this House 
a good morning, although reports that have reached us this morning from 
far places on the globe are not so present. We awakened today to hear 
of a growing crisis off the Korean Peninsula in the Yellow Sea as the 
respective navies of North and South Korea clash.
  Mr. Speaker, I noted with interest that in the prerecorded comments 
that one of our government spokesmen offered dealing with this 
situation, this spokesman said, well, in the past when there has been 
this type of confrontation, the North Koreans retreat or back off, and, 
quite frankly, we are surprised that the North Koreans did not follow 
that action this morning.
  Well, Mr. Speaker, let me point out to that government spokesman and 
to my colleagues precisely why the North Koreans failed to back off. 
See, Mr. Speaker, the sad fact is the outlaw nation of North Korea is 
now for all intents and purposes a nuclear power. That is the cold, 
grim, stark reality.
  Proliferation of nuclear technology, technology stolen by the Chinese 
Government and given to other nations like North Korea, has now borne 
its bitter fruit. Moreover, shockingly, surprisingly, Mr. Speaker, this 
administration has engaged in the willful, naive transfer of 
technology. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, when I first arrived in the Capital 
City for my first term, prior to taking the oath of office I had 
occasion to then meet with the Secretary of Defense at that time, 
Secretary Perry. I asked him why this administration was so intent on 
giving, giving two nuclear reactors to North Korea. The Secretary 
responded that I needed a briefing, a briefing that, by the way, was 
never forthcoming, Mr. Speaker.
  A couple of points that we should bring out. We do not need a 
briefing to know that one does not put their hand on the eye of the 
stove when it is turned on and not expect to get burned. Now, the sad 
fact is that of those two reactors which this administration supplied 
to North Korea, within the last 6 months the U.N. inspection teams 
finally went in. The first thing they found out was that one reactor 
was intact, but the core of the second reactor was missing. Couple that 
with the fact that the North Koreans have developed what they call the 
Taepo Dong missile, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of 
reaching the continental United States, and, Mr. Speaker, we begin to 
understand full well why the North Koreans continue to act 
provocatively. Add to that the extreme famine that the North Koreans 
find themselves in, documented cases of cannibalism; a totalitarian 
Communist state that does not view peace as its logical means of 
existence, that will have to turn to hostilities, and we see the 
situation that has been set up.
  How sad it is, Mr. Speaker, that there is such a radically different 
interpretation from my left-leaning friends in the administration when 
it comes to providing for the common defense. How sad it is, Mr. 
Speaker, that the President of the United States 2 years ago stood at 
the podium behind me here and said that our children no longer faced 
the threat of annihilation by nuclear missiles, that nuclear missiles 
were not targeted at the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, the President was, to be diplomatic, sorely mistaken in 
that evaluation.
  Mr. Speaker, this House and those of us who serve in the legislative 
branch cannot continue to allow this type of drift and uncertainty in 
our foreign policy and in our national security situation. We must take 
seriously our role to provide for the common defense. That means steps 
to cut off the theft of our secrets by China. That means a realistic, 
not a socialistic utopian view, but a realistic assessment of the 
threat offered by an outlaw nation like North Korea and that also 
entails an honest assessment of our friends, the Russians, in the 
Balkan theater.

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