Charles Rangel: “Let me thank so much for the sensitivity and support that the gentlelady from Florida and chairman of this committee…”

“Let me thank so much for the sensitivity and support that the gentlelady from Florida and chairman of this committee, for the strong support and the friendship that you've extended not only to me but to the people that you have felt their pain even though the hostilities are over, and the courtesy that Ranking Member Berman has given in allowing me to open the discussion on this important debate. As most of you know, in 1950 the Communist North Koreans invaded South Korea, crossing a line that Russia and the United States had settled in what they called the 38th Parallel. Well, you can separate a geographic area, but you cannot separate a people that have the same background, the same language, and the same culture. Nor can you engage in a war and insist that you are not going to abide by the international obligations that even in those types of hostilities most nations abide by. We have had close to 2 million American soldiers, men and women, in Korea with allies and friends in the United Nations to stop this hostile communist unwarranted takeover of South Korea. In that war over 50,000 Americans were killed; double that number were wounded; and we had thousands of people that were just taken as prisoners of war, or they were missing in action. There was a time that the regime in North Korea was helping the State Department and the United States in finding where these bodies are located and with some success.…”