Sam Brownback: “I rise to talk about the situation in North Korea and about the dire situation of the people of North Korea and the…”

“I rise to talk about the situation in North Korea and about the dire situation of the people of North Korea and the human rights abuses that are taking place. I think most of my colleagues know about the missile testing that has been occurring in North Korea, about the difficulty in getting negotiations going on the six-party talks. I applaud the administration for their efforts on getting these six-party talks moving on North Korea. I also wish to draw the attention of my colleagues to the human toll that is taking place in North Korea. Kim Jong Il, the leader of North Korea, has been a weapon of mass destruction against his own people, killing 1.5 million of his own people in prison camps--nearly 10 percent of their entire population--over the past 15 years. In particular, I draw to the attention of my colleagues an article that is in today's Asia Times Online because I think this actually summarizes the overall situation pretty well. North Korea and South Korea have been talking quite a bit, and the South Koreans have actually sided with the Chinese and the Russians on a weaker U.N. Security Council resolution. The North Koreans just walked out of ministerial talks with the South Koreans, saying that they want to pursue a missile weapons system--the North Koreans do--for the protection of the entire Korean peninsula, including South Korea, which is absurd. This will be used against the South Koreans.…”