Ed Royce: “We have the opportunity today to show Americans and the world that Congress is willing to lead on this vital national…”

“We have the opportunity today to show Americans and the world that Congress is willing to lead on this vital national security issue. This is an issue that Congress has been focused on, obviously, for some time. I have spent much of my time on the Foreign Affairs Committee focused on the North Korean threat. Ranking Member Eliot Engel and I, in one of our first trips together as chairman and ranking member of the committee, traveled to visit our South Korean ally and toured the wreckage of the Cheonan. This was a corvette ship that was hit and split right in half by a torpedo fired by a North Korean submarine, costing the lives of 46 sailors. It is a reminder of the attitude that North Korea has in terms of its provocative action. Both Eliot Engel and I have been to North Korea on separate trips, and we can tell you it is a totalitarian state with an ever-present cult of personalities. If you have ever read Orwell's book, ``Nineteen Eighty-Four,'' the society in that book seemed almost more rational than this police state. I was talking to the former Minister of Propaganda. In the no-go areas, 1.9 million were starved to death in North Korea. You ask why. Well, with the paranoia of the police state, they are not considered particularly loyal out there. Besides, the food can be sold on the food exchange in the capital for hard currency.…”