Sam Brownback: “I want to address the body quickly and briefly but importantly on what is happening in North Korea and to North Korean…”

“I want to address the body quickly and briefly but importantly on what is happening in North Korea and to North Korean refugees coming out of that country. Prior to the July 4th recess, my colleagues, Senator Kennedy and Senator Allen, and I brought to light the plight of North Korean refugees in a hearing before the Immigration Subcommittee. The hearing capped a month of activity that involved the passage of resolution on North Korean refugees in both the House and the Senate. Both resolutions strongly urged the Chinese government not to repatriate North Korean refugees back to North Korea. The House version passed by 406 to 0 and our resolution passed by unanimous consent on June 19, 2002. At our hearing, we heard some very moving testimony from Ms. Lee Soon-Ok, a North Korean defector who suffered more than five years in a prison camp. We also heard from Ms. Helie Lee, a Korean American writer whose memoir, In the Absence of the Sun, movingly highlighted a largely hidden and painful secret shared by hundreds of thousands of Korean Americans and millions of Koreans--more than 50 years of separation among family members and loved ones since the outbreak of the Korean War.”