Hearing of the Subcom. on Asia and Pacific of the House International Relations Com. on US Policy in East Asia and the Pacific - Transcript

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ASIA AND PACIFIC OF THE HOUSE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: U.S. POLICY IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

CHAIRED BY: REPRESENTATIVE JIM LEACH (R-IA)

WITNESS: JAMES KELLY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS

LOCATION: 2172 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

BODY:

REP. JIM LEACH (R-IA): The committee will come to order. And on behalf of the subcommittee, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to Assistant Secretary Kelly. In this regard, I think it's appropriate to take a moment to recognize his leadership and Jim's professionalism.

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REP. BRAD SHERMAN (D-CA): Mr. Chairman, regretfully, I am going to have to leave and won't be able to hear the testimony, but then I'll spare you my five minutes of question-asking. I especially want to hear testimony, and I'll read it later, about dealing with terrorists in Southeast Asia and terrorist organizations.

But as the assistant secretary is well aware, my preoccupation is nuclear weapons. And, I admire how you, Mr. Secretary, have struggled vitally, but let's face it, the North Korean nuclear weapons program goes forward full speed, 24/7, 365. You struggled mightily, but you have consented to be in an administration that sends you out there handcuffed. They may be handcuffs that you agreed to. And those handcuffs are that we have a policy, and that is all we do is beg. We beg mightily. We point out, we argue. You do a very effective job.

But what we refuse to do is tell our friends in Beijing that they cannot continue to subsidize the North Korean government while that government is developing nuclear weapons and still run the largest trade surplus in history with the United States. We have not thought that a single shipload of tennis shoes could be held up for a day in order to get Beijing to stop saying to you, Mr. Secretary, that they're on your side, and to actually do something.

As a result, North Korea knows full well all they have to do is show up at the meetings, and they've been doing so. They can argue about whether the table is round or square, whether it's a two-person table or a six-person table. And you will argue mightily on the other side of those important issues.

But let's remember, this is an administration that has asked the ultimate sacrifice of Americans to protect us from nuclear weapons. No administration has ever asked Americans to sacrifice more to protect ourselves from nuclear weapons, and the-almost all of that sacrifice has been misdirected toward a country that had no nuclear weapons and wasn't anywhere near developing them. And we are unwilling to ask our corporations to forgo the profits on a single shipload of tennis shoes in order to do something about real nuclear weapons.

And let us remember, the first dozen nuclear weapons built in North Korea will be retained by that regime to defend themselves from Mr. Wolfowitz. The thirteenth goes on e-Bay. They're almost there. We, are subject to a nuclear peril, are arguably similar to what we faced at the worst stages of the Cold War, not in terms of numbers of nuclear weapons but in terms of them being in the hands of those who have nothing to lose, those who cannot be deterred.

And it is because we are unwilling to ask for American corporations to sacrifice, we are unwilling to tell the Chinese that they can't just root for us, they have to do something. And those nuclear weapons are being developed today as we speak.

I yield back.

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REP. SHERMAN: Will the gentleman yield --

REP. ROHRABACHER: I certainly will --

REP. SHERMAN: -- for 30 seconds?

REP. ROHRABACHER: -- seeing that I've used your name in vain, I'll be happy to.

REP. SHERMAN: I would just point out that the gentleman makes the point that we can't do anything about the North Korean program because we're tied down in Iraq.

REP. ROHRABACHER: I didn't say anything --

REP. SHERMAN: Okay. And you're right, we can and should be using our enormous economic power. Second, we are moving 4,000 troops from a peninsula where hostile nuclear weapons are found to deal with the Korea problem-the Iraq problem. But I would point out that if a nuclear weapon is smuggled into the United States, built in North Korea, and sold to terrorists, I don't think our constituents will view that as an opportunity to discuss whether it was the Clinton administration's fault or the Bush administration's fault. The thing is, what should we do now?

REP. SHERMAN: Well, reclaiming my --

REP. SHERMAN: And the-

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