[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15860]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          U.S.-KOREA RELATIONS

  (Mr. ROYCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROYCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to salute the U.S.-Korea partnership 
and to welcome President Park Geun-hye to Washington next week.
  Having chaired the U.S.-Republic of Korea Parliamentary Exchange for 
over a decade, I have long championed closer ties between our two 
countries. Our alliance is one that was forged in bloodshed 65 years 
ago, when U.S. and Korean forces fought and died together. Our own 
colleagues, Sergeant Charlie Rangel, John Conyers, and Sam Johnson, 
fought there.
  Over 215,000 South Korean soldiers were killed and over 1 million 
civilians lost their lives. Seoul was leveled, but it has risen from 
the ashes to become one of greatest cities in the world.
  The U.S.-Korea relations have been a linchpin of security for us. We 
have partnered in deepening our trade ties through KORUS, in our 
condemnation of Japan's use of Korean women as sex slaves during the 
war, and, more recently, our committee unanimously passed a resolution 
to help Korean Americans meet their long-lost relatives separated by 
the war.
  Colleagues, let us take this partnership with South Korea to a new 
level.

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