[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 141 (Tuesday, November 18, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMENDING MR. DONG SUK KIM AND THE KOREAN AMERICAN CIVIC EMPOWERMENT 
                             FOR COMMUNITY

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA

                           of american samoa

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 18, 2014

  Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commend Mr. Dong Suk 
Kim and the Korean American Civic Empowerment for Community (KACE) 
based in New York and New Jersey for their dedication in promoting 
civil rights and in organizing the Korean-American community.
  Mr. Kim was born in South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. in 1985. 
He resides in Tenafly, New Jersey, with his wife, Hyunjoo Hwang, and 
their son, Sol.
  Mr. Dong Suk Kim is a Founder and Executive Committee Chair of KACE. 
Mr. Kim was President of the Korean American Voters' Council (KAVC) 
from 1996 through 2010. Mr. Kim has devoted his life to empowering the 
Korean-American community after the Los Angeles riots in 1992, which 
were a result of the Rodney King case and which seriously impacted the 
Korean-American community in the United States.
  As the President of KACE, Mr. Kim led the organization to significant 
achievements. KACE increased Korean-American voter turnout in the 
Greater New York area from less than 5% in 1996 to over 58% in 2012, 
assisted more than 27,000 Korean-Americans to register to vote, and 
organized a community-based campaign for the 2000 and 2010 Census. To 
advance Korean-Americans' voting rights, KACE publishes voter guides in 
Korean, operates a voter hotline every year, and mails more than 500 
voter registration and vote-by-mail forms to Korean-American voters 
every year.
  I would also like to commend Mr. Kim and KACE for their active roles 
in organizing a nationwide campaign in support of the ``Comfort Women 
Resolution'' (H. Res. 121 in the 110th Congress) in 2007 which 
addresses matters related to the sexual slavery imposed by Japanese 
armed forces during World War II. Mr. Kim traveled to all major Korean 
towns in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, San 
Francisco, and Chicago to organize the campaign. As a result of this 
grassroots campaign, the Comfort Women Resolution was adopted 
unanimously by the House of Representatives on July 30, 2007.
  In 2011, Mr. Kim led a grassroots campaign in support of the U.S.-
Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) to advance bilateral commercial 
cooperation as well as the interests of the Korean-American community. 
The agreement was signed by both governments in 2007 but was not 
ratified by Congress until October 2011. The Korean-American community 
expressed its strong support for the agreement and it was passed by 
both governments in 2011.
  Every year, Mr. Kim and KACE organize many programs to educate, 
organize and mobilize the Korean-American community and to promote its 
civic participation. It is fitting and proper to honor both Mr. Kim's 
and KACE's outstanding contributions and commitment to the Korean-
American community and to the United States of America, and I am 
pleased to offer this statement for historical purposes.

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