[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 7, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE FIRST U.S.-KOREA STRATEGIC CONSULTATION FOR ALLIED 
                              PARTNERSHIP

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. VITO FOSSELLA

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 7, 2006

  Mr. FOSSELLA. Mr. Speaker, when President George Bush traveled to 
South Korea late last year to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation, APEC, Summit in Busan, he and President Moo-Hyun Roh 
agreed that while the strategic partnership and evolving security 
alliance between our two nations were ``mutually beneficial,'' 
increased and more efficient communication were still required.
  Against this backdrop, Presidents Bush and Roh agreed to launch a 
strategic dialogue called Strategic Consultation for Allied 
Partnership, SCAP, at the ministerial level for consultations on 
bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. Currently, 
the U.S. only holds such consultations with Australia, Saudi Arabia and 
Japan.
  The first of these meetings took place in Washington on January 19, 
2006, when South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ki-Moon 
Ban, met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. According to 
the State Department, among the key initiatives Secretary Rice and 
Foreign Minister Ban laid out as topics for continued discussion 
include: coordination of efforts to promote freedom, democratic 
institutions and human rights worldwide; strengthened cooperation on 
fighting terrorism and exerting common efforts for the observance and 
implementation of international security cooperation regimes for the 
prevention of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; 
coordination of efforts to develop comprehensive international 
strategies to fight transnational pandemic disease; maintaining a 
strong U.S.-ROK alliance to contribute to peace and stability in 
Northeast Asia; and developing common approaches to reinforcing peace 
and stability through multilateral peacekeeping and improved 
collaboration on crisis response and disaster management.
  It is clearly evident that the shared agenda of the United States and 
South Korea is both broad and comprehensive. South Korea is one of our 
country's principal trading partners, with over $72 billion in trade 
volume each year and the fifth-largest purchaser of U.S. agricultural 
products. In fact, on Thursday, February 2, 2006, the U.S. and Korea 
announced the launching of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement, FTA, 
which would represent, according to U.S. Trade Representative Rob 
Portman, the ``most commercially significant'' free trade pact since 
NAFTA.
  Moreover, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, during the 
2004 calendar year, 627,000 South Koreans visited the United States for 
tourism and business travel, making Korea the fifth largest overseas 
market of tourists coming to our shores. As cochair of the 
Congressional Caucus on Korea, I am also well aware that Korea has made 
great progress in working to meet all the statutory requirements for 
entry into the Visa Waiver Program, VWP.

  The United States and South Korea also share a deep concern about 
regional stability and continued peace on the Korean Peninsula. At the 
same time, South Korea has been an important and indispensable ally in 
the global war on terror and in bringing peace, stability and democracy 
to Iraq. In fact, South Korea has deployed more troops in Iraq than any 
other country besides the United States and Great Britain.
  Mr. Speaker, for all these reasons, the first Strategic Consultation 
for Allied Partnership was an important contribution to strengthen the 
U.S.-Korea bilateral relationship and expand the horizon of the 
alliance. I also commend Secretary Rice and Foreign Minister Ban on 
their pledge to continue sustaining the formative discussions as their 
joint efforts deserve our full recognition and support.

                          ____________________