[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 86 (Thursday, May 24, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E728-E729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2019

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 22, 2018

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the state of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5515) to 
     authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 for military 
     activities of the Department of Defense and for military 
     construction, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
     such fiscal year, and for other purposes:

  Mr. CONNOLLY. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of my amendment to 
H.R. 5515, which would require a report related to human rights in 
North Korea.
  The report would describe ongoing or planned efforts regarding the 
repatriation of members of the United States Armed Forces; the 
reunification of Korean Americans with relatives in North Korea; and an 
assessment of security risks posted by travel to North Korea for U.S. 
citizens.
  The division of North and South Korea 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 the families ripped apart by the Korean War and 
an enduring division of one people into two countries.
  Reunions are a welcome respite from the separation, but, in the end, 
provide yet another reminder that family reunification on the Korean 
Peninsula is 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.

[[Page E729]]

  Too many have already passed away without realizing that hope.
  This amendment would require an update on efforts to conduct family 
reunifications for these Korean Americans.
  It would also help heal old wounds by addressing the repatriation of 
members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have been missing since the Korean 
War.
  It is vital that our North Korea policy be informed with an 
understanding that there are human victims of the ongoing conflict on 
the Peninsula.
  I thank the Chairman, the Ranking Member, and Rep. Ros-Lehtinen for 
working with me on this amendment and ask that my colleagues support 
it.

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