[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 76 (Thursday, May 10, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H3919-H3920]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FREED AMERICANS IN NORTH KOREA

  (Mr. ROTHFUS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to offer a big welcome home to the 
three Americans who arrived early this morning back in the United 
States, in their words, the greatest Nation in the world, following 
their captivity in North Korea.
  I commend Secretary of State Pompeo for his work to secure the 
release of these Americans and to President Trump for resetting the 
negotiating dynamic that led to this day. If we were following the 
prior administration's strategic patience, they would still be 
imprisoned.
  With the freeing of these Americans and the other recent developments 
on the Korean Peninsula, including what is reflected in this photo, 
both North and South Korea removing their respective propaganda 
speakers from the DMZ, one cannot help but recall the events of 1989, 
in Eastern Europe, and the thaw that resulted in the freeing of half a 
continent.
  Today's homecoming is a positive step in achieving lasting peace, but 
we still have a long way to go. It is a

[[Page H3920]]

shame that this could not have come to fruition in time for Otto 
Warmbier's safe release.
  Let us hope that, with the forthcoming talks between the United 
States and North Korea, much more progress will be made.

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