Recognizing the United States-Republic of Korea Alliance

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce for introducing H. Res. 1149, which recognizes the importance of our alliance with South Korea.

As ranking member of the Asia and the Pacific Subcommittee and a member of the Congressional Caucus on Korea, I am pleased to cosponsor this resolution with several other Members of Congress.

The U.S. and South Korea share common values--democracy, commitment to justice--but we also share a unique bond of history. The United States military and South Korean troops fought side by side to defend the Korean Peninsula before the Armistice Agreement of 1953. Today, we continue to cooperate in order to defend the Korean Peninsula. In fact, South Korea currently hosts 28,500 American Active Duty military personnel.

Only 35 miles separate Seoul from North Korea, and when I was there with the chairman, we noticed that property values are considerably lower on the north side of Seoul than on the south side of Seoul. While we have substantial conventional forces there, no number of soldiers can deal with the biggest threat from North Korea; namely, its nuclear arsenal.

Now, I know it has been tweeted that we no longer face a nuclear threat from North Korea, would that that be so. Secretary of State Pompeo has recently stated that North Korea continues to make more fissile material, no doubt using that to make more nuclear bombs, even several every year. And satellite imagery shows that North Korea is continuing to build and expand bases for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

So we are standing shoulder to shoulder with South Korea, but we face a real threat from North Korea, and we will not be able to deal with that threat without the assistance of both South Korea and Japan.

This resolution reaffirms the need for the United States and South Korea to stand shoulder to shoulder in continuing to apply necessary economic pressure on North Korea. Toward that end, I would say that we have scaled back in substance, if not in legal form, our sanctions against North Korea, perhaps falsely believing that a few words exchanged in Singapore are a reason to do so.

Recently, we have sent a letter to the administration, a bipartisan letter urging them to sanction major Chinese banks, not just small ones, that have done business with North Korea in violation of U.S. law and U.N. sanctions.

Now, it is important also to look at the Korean American community, and I am pleased that the resolution recognizes the importance of the bridges created by the American Korean community between the United States and the Republic of Korea.

I recently led a letter urging President Trump and President Moon to make a major priority among North Korea, the United States, and South Korea allowing American citizens, some 100,000 of them, who have relatives in North Korea to at least be allowed to visit their relatives and, even before that, at least be allowed to talk to them over the phone. We must recognize the potential for the Korean American community to serve the cause of peace and to help establish a dialogue.

Again, I thank Chairman Royce for his leadership on this measure and urge its adoption.

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