[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 75 (Wednesday, May 9, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S2558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              RELEASE OF AMERICAN HOSTAGES IN NORTH KOREA

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, secondly, I would like to address the 
news this morning that Secretary of State Pompeo will be returning from 
North Korea with the three Americans who were held there against their 
will. We are all glad to see them returning home. Their families are 
delighted. We are all delighted.
  Let's not forget, this is not some great give on North Korea's part. 
We cannot forget that no regime has the right to hold American citizens 
in captivity without cause. Under no circumstances should American 
citizens be viewed as bargaining chips by foreign capitals. I hope 
President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are clear about that because the 
same goes for other countries wrongly detaining Americans--Iran, China. 
If countries in the world think they can detain Americans and get 
something in return, we will see many more hostages.
  So we are all rooting for the diplomacy with North Korea to succeed 
and, in that respect, I urge the Trump administration to work with our 
allies with a coordinated and considered strategy to see if we can 
denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, but the hostages shouldn't be part 
of it. We are happy they have returned, but North Korea shouldn't gain 
by taking Americans and then releasing them.

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