Edward Royce actually said...

I am going to continue my effort to convince the Chinese Government that they should not allow nonstop flights between Pyongyang and Tehran ...

I had raised several times during the course of those negotiations that the hostages should have been freed without any precondition.

The point of the no-concessions policy is to remove the incentive to take Americans hostage.

I call it ransom, because that is what Iran demanded.