U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) told Penn students the United States must overlook human-rights violations in North Korea to reach an agreement on nuclear weapons.
"We despise the way you treat your citizens, your human-rights violations, but we can get beyond that, as long as you give up your nuclear weapons," Weldon said last night, illustrating the sort of commitment he believes the United States needs to make to North Korea.
His comments came in response to a question from the audience about what the next breakthrough with North Korea would be. Weldon was speaking at an event sponsored by the Penn College Republicans.
Weldon, who represents Pennsylvania's Seventh District, added that he does not share the Bush administration's attitude on this issue.
Weldon criticized what he sees as a "belligerent approach" from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Vice President Dick Cheney and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
He warned that a military conflict in the Korean Peninsula could be disastrous, costing millions of lives.
The resolution he envisions would come from a U.S. commitment not to attempt "regime change" in North Korea and the creation of a Russian oil pipeline running through North Korea to ensure the nation uses only non-nuclear energy.
Despite expectations from event organizers that Weldon would address the issues of Iraq and North Korea in his speech, he focused almost entirely on his blue-collar roots in Marcus Hook, Pa., and on his work with Russia in the 1990s until the question-and-answer session.
Weldon, who is vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said that U.S. failure to deal with the disintegrating nuclear apparatus in Russia has led to modern security woes, especially regarding weapons of mass destruction.
"Much of what we are seeing today comes from what we didn't do in the 1990s," Weldon added, citing his 1997 discovery that 80 Russian "suitcase nukes" had gone missing and former President Bill Clinton's unwillingness to stop Russia from developing a missile program in Iran.
Except for a discussion of intelligence surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and a story about visiting Iraq, Weldon did not discuss any events after the year 2000 in his speech.
"I was happy to see him address issues that don't get much media attention," said College senior Kristina Leone, who is president of the Penn College Republicans.
Weldon is running for re-election in 2006, has been a congressman since 1987 and is the longest serving Republican congressman from Pennsylvania.
