[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 64 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H4971]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NORTH KOREAN FREEDOM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, in Dante's ``Divine Comedy,'' the 
inscription above the entrance to hell reads, ``Abandon hope all ye who 
enter here.'' That should also, sadly, be the inscription above the DMZ 
for those turning northward, for North Korea is truly hell on Earth.
  This is a land where the techniques of torture and brainwashing have 
been finely perfected, as portrayed in the film ``The Manchurian 
Candidate.'' This is a land where political prisoners labor under 
conditions of slow starvation and massive abuse, as reflected in the 
South Korean drama ``Yoduk Story.''
  Madam Speaker, I wish I could say that North Korea was no more scary 
than an Orwellian novel or a Cold War movie or a tragic musical 
production. Sadly, however, North Korea is no mere bogeyman who 
disturbs a child's dreams in the shadows of the night. North Korea is a 
frightening reality, a daily reality for over 23 million people. It is 
an immediate threat to our Armed Forces in the Pacific and to our 
allies in South Korea and Japan. It is a proliferation of weapons of 
mass destruction to fellow rogue regimes in the Middle East.
  North Korea haunts us all, but it is no mere ghost, it is a real and 
constant threat. That is why I introduced last week a bill, H.R. 1980, 
the North Korea Sanctions and Diplomatic Nonrecognition Act. United we 
must stand for North Korean human rights and for an end to the 
repression of innocent human beings. For if we wish to find the real 
meaning of repression, we should turn our gaze to Pyongyang. If we seek 
the true definition of torture, we need look no further than the 
killing fields of North Korea. We must not forget the horrific accounts 
which our emaciated prisoners of war brought back to America after the 
1953 Armistice.
  We must not turn a deaf ear to the haunting tales of refugees and 
returned abductees who are among the fortunate few who are able to 
escape this hell on Earth. We must not silence our consciences in the 
name of diplomatic expediency. To be silent on fundamental freedoms and 
human rights is to tell the despotic leader, Kim Jong Il, that he can 
avoid these issues indefinitely. To be silent is to be an enabler.
  We must highlight how prison guards cut still living babies out of 
the refugee mothers' wombs and slam their heads on the pavement for the 
so-called crime of being the mixed blood seed of Chinese fathers. We 
must shed light on the imprisoned Christians who were martyred by 
having hot molten metal poured on their exposed flesh. The executions 
carried out for stealing a little food to keep one's child alive during 
the famine. The refugees hunted down or trafficked in the sex trade in 
China.
  On a regular business day in our Nation's Capitol, the topic of human 
rights and oppression may seem rather abstract. But human rights is 
found in each individual, case by case, and in their tears. It is found 
in the tears of Mrs. Yokota, waiting for over three decades for the 
return of her little girl snatched away by agents of North Korea. It is 
in the tears of our own American citizens, Mary Ling, waiting for the 
return of her daughter, journalist Laura Ling. Laura was grabbed, along 
with fellow U.S. journalist Euna Lee, 6 weeks ago by North Korean 
border guards and then imprisoned in the gulag.
  Human rights is also found in the tears of a Chicago citizen, Esther 
Kim, waiting for the return of the remains of her husband, U.S. 
permanent resident Kim Dong-shik. Reverend Kim was kidnapped by North 
Korean agents in China 9 years ago while helping refugees, and 
reportedly died of starvation and torture at a North Korean military 
base. It is found in the tears of Israeli apartment dwellers hit by 
missiles developed by North Korea for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in 
2006 from tunnels dug with North Korean assistance.
  It is a grim picture, but we must not despair, Madam Speaker. Justice 
will ultimately prevail. In the same manner that we prevailed against 
the evil empire and Soviet-style Communism, with perseverance, with 
dedication to the defense of human rights, and the promotion of core 
democratic principles, the suffering of the North Korean people can 
also be brought to an end. May it be so.

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