Political Quotes

“I rise in support of H.R. 4011, the North Korea Human Rights Act, of which I am an original cosponsor. The human rights conditions in North Korea are abysmal. As we know, the North Korean regime apportions and withholds resources based on perceived citizen loyalty to the regime. From 1994 to 1998 at least two million North Koreans perished from starvation and related diseases, while nearly 50 percent of all North Korean children are malnourished to the point that it threatens their physical and mental health. This dire situation has forced many North Koreans to risk life and limb to flee into China. As many as 300,000 North Korean refugees are hiding in the Chinese countryside. Chinese authorities continue an aggressive crackdown--actively hunting down North Korean refugees and forcibly repatriating them to North Korea. Once returned to North Korea, they face torture, imprisonment, and even execution. The International Relations Subcommittee on Asia has held hearings on North Korea's human rights abuses, where we have heard testimony from North Korean defectors.”