[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H6349-H6351]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ENCOURAGING REUNIONS OF DIVIDED KOREAN AMERICAN FAMILIES
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 40) encouraging reunions of divided
Korean American families.
The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:
H. Con. Res. 40
Whereas the Republic of Korea (hereinafter in this
resolution referred to as ``South Korea'') and the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea (hereinafter in this resolution
referred to as ``North Korea'') remain divided since the
armistice agreement was signed on July 27, 1953;
Whereas the United States, which as a signatory to the
armistice agreement as representing the United Nations Forces
Command, and with 28,500 of its troops currently stationed in
South Korea, has a stake in peace on the Korean Peninsula and
is home to more than 1,700,000 Americans of Korean descent;
Whereas the division on the Korean Peninsula separated more
than 10,000,000 Korean family members, including some who are
now citizens of the United States;
Whereas there have been 19 rounds of family reunions
between South Koreans and North Koreans along the border
since 2000;
Whereas Congress signaled its interest in family reunions
between United States Citizens and their relatives in North
Korea in section 1265 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Public Law 110-181), signed into
law by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2008;
Whereas the number of more than 100,000 estimated divided
family members in the United States last identified in 2001
has been significantly dwindling as many of them have passed
away;
Whereas many Korean Americans are waiting for a chance to
meet their relatives in North Korea for the first time in
more than 60 years; and
Whereas peace on the Korean Peninsula remains a long-term
goal for the Governments of South Korea and the United
States, and would mean greater security and stability for the
region and the world: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress--
(1) encourages North Korea to allow Korean Americans to
meet with their family members from North Korea; and
(2) calls on North Korea to take concrete steps to build
goodwill that is conducive to peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Royce) and the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce).
General Leave
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have
5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include
any extraneous material for the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
As the Republican coauthor of this measure, I rise in strong support
of H. Con. Res. 40--a resolution I was proud to introduce alongside my
good friend, Mr. Charlie Rangel. As always, I appreciate the help from
the gentleman from New York, the ranking member, for his assistance in
bringing it to the House floor for consideration. It has been a
privilege to have worked alongside one of the true champions of peace
and stability on the Korean Peninsula, Mr. Charlie Rangel. He is,
indeed, a true patriot.
We all know about his bravery and heroism as a young Army officer in
the Korean war--spending his days literally freezing behind enemy
lines. While wounded, Charlie courageously led 40 men from his unit out
of a Chinese encirclement, undoubtedly saving many, many lives. For his
bravery, Charlie earned the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. Yes,
Charlie suffered for his country, but his focus has continued to also
be on the suffering of the Korean people. A nation was destroyed;
millions were killed; families were brutally ripped apart. Charlie has
never forgotten that. He didn't leave Korea behind, which is why I was
happy to work with him on the cause of bringing together the many, many
Korean families that have been ripped apart by war.
Sadly, Mr. Speaker, Korea remains a divided peninsula. There is a
prosperous and free South Korea and a brutal, totalitarian,
impoverished North Korea. This division is a calamity that is acutely
felt by South Korean families that have been separated by the DMZ, but
it is equally felt here by many Korean American families in the United
States. In the decades since the momentous liberation of Korea,
millions of Korean families have been separated from their loved ones.
Today, an estimated 100,000 Korean Americans have been separated from
their relatives in North Korea and have long sought an opportunity to
be reunited.
Mr. Speaker, time is running out. Earlier this year, the average
Korean separated by the war was 80 years old. A large number is over
90. It is far past time that these war-torn families be given one last
opportunity to reunite with the family members they were separated from
six decades ago. It is everyone's hope--and, of course, of those in
this body--that someday we will see Korea reunited. In the meantime, we
can do what we can to encourage the reuniting of these families; so I
urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise to support H. Con. Res. 40. I am pleased to support this
measure that was introduced by Congressman Charlie Rangel of New York,
and I associate myself with the chairman's remarks in the praise of
Charlie's service not only during the Korean war, but after that war,
to focus on families that are both here and in Korea who were affected
by that conflict.
A decorated veteran of the Korean war, Representative Rangel has been
a tireless advocate for peace and security on the peninsula and for the
Korean American community here in the United States. His achievements
are many, and as he retires after 40 decades of service here in
Congress, he will, of course, be missed.
What Congressman Rangel and the many cosponsors of H. Con. Res. 40
bring forth today--154 bipartisan cosponsors, including the chair and
ranking member of the committee, myself, and so many others--is a
reminder not just of the complex security situation on the peninsula,
but of the human dimension of a war that has not been formally ended.
As this resolution reminds us, there are 10 million people on the
Korean Peninsula and around the world who are victims of this family
division, and there are some 100,000 American citizens who are still
waiting to see--perhaps for one last time--family members that they
have not seen for 60 years, who have remained north of the 38th
parallel in the aftermath of the Korean war. There are approximately
1.7 million Korean Americans here in the United States. As I mentioned,
over 100,000 of them have relatives who are north of the DMZ, and I am
pleased to say that over half of those Korean Americans reside in the
State of California.
The Korean Americans who have been divided from their families in
North Korea are now in their senior years. Time is running out for
these separated families to reunite--perhaps for just one last time--
with parents, siblings, children. For many, reunification will be the
only contact they will have had in so many decades. As of yet, Korean
Americans have not been permitted to participate in family reunions.
North Korea should encourage
[[Page H6350]]
reunions for the sake of their own citizens who are divided family
members, for Korean Americans, and for those affected by the war no
matter where in the world they live.
H. Con. Res. 40 urges the North Korea regime to resume family
reunification visits, which have been suspended for over a year, and to
allow families that chance to get together. It also calls on North
Korea to take concrete steps to build goodwill that is conducive to
peace on the Korean Peninsula. This is particularly important given the
nuclear weapons tests and missile tests that we have seen from the
north.
The reunification of families is a goodwill gesture that can help put
the world and northeast Asia on the road to peace. That is why I
support this resolution and urge all of my colleagues to do the same.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Dold).
Mr. DOLD. I thank the gentleman for yielding the time.
Mr. Speaker, this is a critically important humanitarian issue as we
talk about families. Each and every one of us just got back from
Thanksgiving--an opportunity for us to gather around the table with our
families. I think that is something that, often, too many of us take
for granted--the opportunity and the ability that we have to jump on a
plane or to get on a train and go visit our families. Yet, for so many
Korean families, that is something that is beyond the realm of
possibility.
It is beyond the realm of possibility because, at the outbreak of the
Korean war, many of the Koreans thought that this was just going to be
a conflict that was not going to last very long; so families were
literally separated at that time and were hoping to be reunited in a
very short period of time. What we do know is that, decade after
decade, these families have not been able to be reunited. We want to
encourage this reuniting of families. There are so many Korean
Americans who have family in the north who have not been able to see
their families.
{time} 1815
Recently, Mr. Speaker, this last year I had an opportunity to travel
to Korea and actually had an opportunity to talk to some of the
families. A very small few--100 families--were going to have an
opportunity to see their loved ones.
Time is of the essence. This is a humanitarian issue because more and
more people are passing away and the opportunities to see their loved
ones perishes. For the Korean Americans and for the Korean community,
their opportunity to pay respects to those who have gone before them is
also something that is critical, and they don't have the opportunity to
visit them.
So I want to make sure that we stand together in a bipartisan way to
encourage the opportunity for families to be able to be reunited.
I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel) for his leadership
on this issue. Again, anybody who has served any time in this body
knows his love for the Korean people and his record in the Korean war,
his heroism in that regard.
I do hope that we, today, will vote to make sure we send a strong
signal that the reuniting of families is something we should all stand
and be united behind.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New
York (Mr. Rangel), the author of this resolution and a champion for the
Korean American community.
(Mr. RANGEL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his
remarks.)
Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Sherman for giving me
this time to speak on this important issue. I will also take this
opportunity to thank Chairman Ed Royce.
So many people ask: After 46 years, what do you consider your major
accomplishments? It is hard to explain to those of us who serve in the
Congress that you don't list friendships as an accomplishment. There is
no question, in knowing Ed Royce from the people's Republic of
California, that he has shattered the wall between Republicans and
Democrats, and conservatives and liberals, and he is an American who
cares about this Congress and this country. Whether I have talked to
him about Africa or about Korea, he has listened and has done the best
he could to show what America really feels proud of, and that is
seeking peace and justice where we find dictatorships and people
destroying the lives of others.
I get so much credit for being a wounded hero in Korea. I volunteered
for the Army, but I sure didn't volunteer for Korea. As a matter of
fact, it always baffled me how we could go there without a declaration
of war. It baffled me who could make a decision to take a country like
Korea with such a beautiful history and have human beings just draw a
line and say that this is north, this is south, this is the Soviets,
this is the United Nations, and the United States and not realize that
these are human beings, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters; that
notwithstanding the fact that the south was attacked, notwithstanding
that the war still continues technically today, that all people should
want to see their families united when all it takes is that, yes, you
may see them.
So today I thank Chairman Royce so much, Mr. Speaker, and this House
for showing America what we are all about. Because it is ironic that we
are now talking about Korean Americans, we are talking about divided
families USA. We are talking about people who love this country, who
fight for this country, but they still have a place they love, and they
have family that they want to see before they pass away or before their
families are gone.
Isn't this really what makes America different, to find people who
love their homeland like Korean Americans love Korea and, at the same
time, love this country more and ask us to join with them for what?
They ask for peace, equity, and all the things that we care about, but
also to meet their family.
There is so much compassion in this. There is so much to show how a
line can show you poverty above the line, democracy and progress below
the line. But more than anything else, this body is saying today that
people who God made of the same blood, the same background, and the
same culture, let them meet.
So I would like to include tonight as one of those proudest days that
I have served in this august body and, also, to include Representative
Ed Royce as one of the most decent human beings I have also met while
serving in this body.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Connolly).
Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Speaker, I too join the chairman and the ranking
member in saluting the gentleman from New York (Mr. Rangel).
I remember him telling the story that he was a teenager at the
outbreak of the war in Korea, living in Harlem, and didn't know where
Korea was. He sure knows today. He is an iconic figure in the Korean
community.
Representative Rangel, we salute you for your incredible heroism.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Con. Res. 40 to encourage the
reunion of divided Korean American families. The division of north and
south along the 38th parallel offers one of the world's most striking
dichotomies. Yet, on both sides of the demilitarized zone resides a
shared pain. The pain is that of families ripped apart by the war and
an enduring division of one people into two countries. Reunions are a
welcome respite from that separation, but, in the end, they provide yet
another reminder that family reunification on the Korean Peninsula is
all too fleeting.
Many of these Americans--more than 100,000 according to the last
estimate--have been waiting to reunite with their family members in
North Korea. Too many have already passed away without ever realizing
that hope.
This resolution encourages Pyongyang to allow those Korean Americans
to meet with their families. It also calls on the North Korean regime
to take steps to build goodwill that is conducive to peace in the
peninsula.
Earlier this year, we passed the North Korean Sanctions and Policy
Enhancement Act, which included my
[[Page H6351]]
amendment conditioning sanctions relief on the promotion of family
reunifications for Koreans and Korean Americans.
It is vital our North Korea policy be informed with an understanding
that there are human victims of this ongoing conflict in the North
Korean Peninsula.
I ask my colleagues to support the resolution, which demonstrates our
commitment to efforts to seek to relieve the pain of separation felt by
Korean families.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I salute the author of this resolution,
Representative Rangel, and urge its adoption.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I also want to recognize the staff who have been so instrumental, not
only on this resolution but also in maintaining our constructive policy
toward Korea, Hannah Kim on Mr. Rangel's staff and our committee
staffers, Hunter Strupp and Jennifer Hendrixson-White.
Earlier, I noted how happy I was to have worked alongside my good
friend and colleague, Charlie Rangel, on this measure. As he is
retiring at the end of this Congress, I want to once again recognize
him as a true champion of U.S.-Korea relations. He truly is. No one,
whether it was fighting for his country or advocating on behalf of so
many Korean Americans, has done more for this partnership.
As Charlie has often said, since he survived the battle of Kunu-ri
and led those freezing soldiers out of that encirclement, he has never,
not since that day, never ever had a bad day since. Mr. Speaker, let's
hope this streak continues well into the future.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, as a cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 40, I rise
today in strong support of its passage.
Tragically, the division on the Korean Peninsula separated more than
10,000,000 Korean family members, including some who are now citizens
of the United States. As a result, many Korean Americans have waited
for over 60 years for a chance to meet their relatives in North Korea
for the first time.
Although there have been 19 rounds of family reunions between South
Koreans and North Koreans, instability has continued to impede the
reunion of these divided families. As some family members reach the
later years of their lives, time becomes an important factor in giving
these families the opportunity to connect.
Congress first signaled its interest in family reunions between
United States citizens and their relatives in North Korea in section
1265 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
(Public Law 110-181), which became law on January 28, 2008. We
furthered our commitment to reunification when President Barack Obama
signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Act 2011 (Public Law 111-
242), which urged the Special Representative on North Korea Policy to
prioritize the issues involving Korean divided families.
Enabling Korean Americans to meet their family members from North
Korea will help establish the goodwill to lay the foundation for peace
on the Korean Peninsula. While peace on the Korean Peninsula remains a
long-term goal for the United States and all stakeholders in the
region, a first step towards achieving it would be to allow family
members to be reunified. This would be a significant step forward for
greater security and stability for the region and the world.
I urge my colleagues in the House to swiftly pass H. Con. Res. 40.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 40.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the concurrent resolution was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________