13 March 2001 Senate, House Democratic Leaders Send Bush Letter on Korea Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (Democrat of South Dakota) released a letter he and other leading Democratic legislators sent to President Bush March 6 to coincide with the visit of South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung to Washington. "Your meeting with President Kim offers an opportunity to stand with our South Korean friends to test whether North Korea is indeed committed to peace," the lawmakers told Bush in the letter. In a speech to the Senate March 13, Daschle said the letter's signatories harbor "no illusions about the challenges posed by the North Korean government," but he added that they also recognize the United States cannot "simply ignore" the challenges Pyongyang poses. The stakes, including proliferation of missile technology, "are simply too high," Daschle said. According to Daschle, pursuing additional talks with the Pyongyang regime would be in the nation's best interest. "Only by allowing our negotiators to sit down with their North Korean counterparts" will the United States be able to determine whether recent progress contains the basis for a "a comprehensive and verifiable agreement" with the communist regime, Daschle said. Besides Daschle, signatories of the March 6 letter include Representative Richard Gephardt (Democrat of Missouri), the House Democratic Leader, Senator Joseph Biden (Democrat of Delaware), the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat of California), the highest-ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee. Acknowledging North Korea's "often far-reaching demands and record of disregarding international norms," the lawmakers said the issues of Pyongyang's future nuclear and ballistic missile activity "demand urgent attention." Continued engagement by the United States "could serve to reduce a serious potential threat to our national security," they wrote. Following are the texts of Daschle's March 13 remarks and the March 6 letter, as provided by the Congressional Record: Visit of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung Senate March 13, 2001 Mr. Daschle: Mr. President, I want to share with my colleagues a letter that Representatives GEPHARDT, LANTOS, SKELTON, Senators BIDEN and LEVIN, and I recently sent to President Bush. The letter outlines our support for efforts to work with our South Korean friends to address the threats to our security emanating from North Korea. Like President Bush, we harbor no illusions about the challenges posed by the North Korean government. To say North Korea's actions the past several decades have greatly troubled the United States and the world is an understatement. However, we also recognize that we cannot simply ignore the challenges the current regime poses for the international community; the stakes, which include the proliferation of missile technology, are simply too high. Last week Secretary Powell publicly recognized that the Clinton Administration made progress in addressing the threats posed by North Korea. We agree with that assessment. We believe the record shows that the Clinton Administration fell just short of reaching a comprehensive agreement with the North Koreans that would have dramatically reduced tensions between the two Koreas and between North Korea and the rest of the world. Given the urgency of these threats and the fact that a breakthrough appeared imminent just months ago, it is in the U.S. national interest to pursue additional discussions with the North Koreans. Only by allowing our negotiators to sit down with their North Korean counterparts will we be able to determine whether that recent progress contains the seeds of a comprehensive and verifiable agreement with North Korea. Let us be clear. The burden here is on the North Koreans to prove that they will join the international community. We may find that a deal is not possible. But to walk away from that effort now, without knowing whether a deal is possible, is to pass up an opportunity to address a principal threat to the United States and to our friends in the region, South Korea chief among them. We urge the President to work with President Kim and our South Korean friends--with our strong support--to test North Korea's commitment to peace through a comprehensive and verifiable agreement on its nuclear and missile activity. The stakes are too high and the issues too urgent to do otherwise. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the RECORD a letter dated March 6, 2001. (end text of remarks) (begin text of letter) Congress of the United States Washington, DC, March 6, 2001. To the President The White House Washington, DC. Dear Mr. President: We are writing in regard to your upcoming meeting with Republic of Korea President Kim Dae Jung. Korea is a steadfast ally in a strategic part of the world, and we are pleased you will meet with President Kim early in your administration. We understand that President Kim's efforts toward rapprochement with North Korea will be a subject of your meeting. In the context of those efforts, late last year North Korea suggested it may be ready to permanently address U.S. and allied concerns regarding its nuclear and missile capability--a major destabilizing force in East Asia and a principal threat to the security of the U.S. and its allies in the region. Your meeting with President Kim offers an opportunity to stand with our South Korean friends to test whether North Korea is indeed committed to peace. Given North Korea's often far-reaching demands and record of disregarding international norms, we are under no illusions about the difficulty of getting comprehensive and verifiable agreements with North Korea that address our concerns about its current and future nuclear and ballistic missile activities. We believe, however, the stakes are high and the issues involved demand urgent attention, and it is evident to us that the continued engagement of the U.S. Government on this matter could serve to reduce a serious potential threat to our national security. We therefore hope you thoroughly explore the possibility of reaching agreements that are in our national interest, and ask that you clearly demonstrate to President Kim our government's ongoing commitment to working constructively with the Republic of Korea to confront this major strategic challenge. Should you choose this path to work with the Republic of Korea to address these critical concerns, we stand ready to support you. Sincerely, Sen. Tom Daschle Senate Democratic Leader. Rep. Richard Gephardt House Democratic Leader. Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Ranking Member Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rep. Tom Lantos Ranking Member House International Relations Committee. Sen. Carl Levin Ranking Member Senate Armed Services Committee. Rep. Ike Skelton Ranking Member House Armed Services Committee. Return to the Washington File