Chris Smith: “I wish to add my voice of support for H.R. 7152, the Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act, introduced…”

“I wish to add my voice of support for H.R. 7152, the Korean American Divided Families National Registry Act, introduced by Rep. Jennifer Wexton and Rep. Michelle Steel, good friends and colleagues of mine on the Congressional- Executive Commission on China. This bill is a very tender-hearted one, for it recognizes the pain which still lingers so many decades after the Korean War Armistice, which divided family members in the North from those in the South. By creating a registry of those who wish to be united with family members, this bill recognizes the depth of that pain, while offering hope that at some point in the future, a more permanent reunion may be possible. It also harbors no illusions about the Kim regime in the Communist North, requiring that our State Department raise the reunion issue in any dialogue between the U.S. and the North, in consultation with our ally, the Republic of Korea, without allowing the North the ability to use this emotionally fraught issue as leverage in negotiations. In other words, the aims of this bill are limited, and tempered by an understanding of the political dynamics on the peninsula, while taking a practical step towards eventual reunion of family members. I ask my colleagues to join me in support, and I commend Reps. Wexton and Steel for this effort to help Korean-American families, The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr.…”