[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 20 (Thursday, February 7, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATING LEE MYUNG-BAK ON ELECTION TO PRESIDENCY OF THE REPUBLIC 
                                OF KOREA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. DIANE E. WATSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 5, 2008

  Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, I want to commend Mr. Royce on sponsoring 
H. Res. 947, a resolution congratulating Lee Myung-Bak on his election 
to the Presidency of the Republic of Korea and wishing him well during 
his transition and inauguration on February 25, 2008.
  The United States and Korea share a longstanding and special 
relationship. Our strong alliance is rooted in the common principles of 
freedom and democracy. Today that relationship has blossomed into a 
strong economic partnership in which the Republic of Korea has become 
one of the United States' major trading partners. In my State of 
California, Korea is the State's fifth largest trading partner and the 
Los Angeles Custom District's third largest trading partner, with $18 
billion in two-way trade annually.
  In my congressional district in Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Culver 
City, ethnic Koreans have built a thriving business and cultural area 
known as Koreatown. Many maintain close cultural, business, and family 
ties to their homeland. Accordingly, it is my hope that the Republic of 
Korea will be fully admitted into the Visa Waiver Program in the very 
near future so that we may share even closer people-to-people exchanges 
between our two countries.
  H. Res. 947 is also timely and important due to the ongoing Six-Party 
Talks and current attempts to dismantle North Korea's nuclear weapons 
program. President-elect Lee has pledged to make the denuclearization 
of the Korean Peninsula a priority of his administration. In order to 
achieve the goal of a nuclear free Korean Peninsula, the Republic of 
Korea will need the full support of the United States.
  Madam Speaker, as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus of Korea and 
the U.S.-Korea Inter-Parliamentary Exchange and as a member of the 
House Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and Global Environment, I am 
committed to ensuring that the rock-solid U.S.-Korea alliance remains 
relevant, resilient, and enduring.
  For these reasons, I again congratulate President-elect Lee on his 
electoral victory and am certain that I speak for all of my 
Congressional colleagues in wishing him the best.

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