On the recordFebruary 6, 2008
let me first commend our distinguished colleague and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment, my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) for being the author of and introducing this important resolution. The underlying context for this important resolution, which congratulates President-elect Lee Myung-Bak and wishes him well as he assumes his new duties on February 25, 2008, is that the Republic of Korea has, through the industrious will of its people and the unyielding leadership of its elected officials, transformed itself into a successful democratic nation. As the twentieth century taught us all too well, democratic governance is a fragile enterprise. That the Republic of Korea, in merely six decades, emerged from the ashes of colonial rule and war torn poverty to become the eleventh largest economy in the world and America's seventh largest trading partner, is a tribute to their strong democratic principles and indelible desire to live peacefully and prosperously despite the enormous challenges facing the Korean Peninsula and the Northeast Asia region.
Source
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