Sam Brownback: “Last July, the President also met with Kang Chol Hwan, whose book the Aquariams of Pyongyang, chronicled Mr. Kang's life…”

“Last July, the President also met with Kang Chol Hwan, whose book the Aquariams of Pyongyang, chronicled Mr. Kang's life as a 9-year-old gulag inmate to his eventual freedom. Just as Natan Scharansky was Reagan's symbol of what freedom from the Soviet communist system meant to free people everywhere, Kang is Bush's symbol of what freedom means to North Koreans. History will record these acts by President Bush to unilaterally broaden the narrow agenda of the Six-Party Talks as among the wisest and humane--acts that trump and negate the false perception that the President is indifferent to concerns about human rights in North Korea. These bold and compassionate acts will figuratively place on the bargaining table--if the Six Party Talks are to ever resume--the faces and names of North Koreans who have suffered and continue to do so. By so publicly raising human rights issues to the highest level, the Oval Office of the President no less, President Bush is merely following the examples set by President Reagan and Pope John Paul during their struggles with a much larger and more threatening nuclear power. We may now have an opportunity--if the press reports are accurate--to take an additional but necessary step to demonstrate not just by words but by action what human rights mean. We need to accept North Korean refugees into the United States as provided by the North Korean Human Rights Act.…”