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[Pages S1573-S1574]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
Remembering Otto Warmbier
Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, in the context of the ongoing
negotiations with North Korea, there has been a lot of discussion today
in the media about Otto Warmbier.
Otto Warmbier was a young man from my hometown of Cincinnati, OH.
This is an emotional issue for me because, through the process of
trying to bring Otto home, I got to know his family very well.
He was a young man with a lot of promise, 22 years old, and a college
student at the University of Virginia. He had gone as a tourist to
North Korea. He was pulled out of the line at the airport.
Here he was, a kindhearted college kid, found himself a prisoner in
North Korea. He was there for about 18 months. His detainment and his
sentence were appalling; unacceptable by any standards. At some point
soon after being sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, from what we
know, Otto suffered a severe brain injury. What happened? We may never
know the details, but we do know one thing, and that is he was severely
mistreated.
Who did the North Korean Government tell about the fact that he had
this brain damage? No one. Unbelievably, for the next 15 months of his
life, they kept this a secret. They denied him access to the best
medical care he deserved, which of course we would have provided.
I was in communication with the North Korean Government during this
time through their offices at the United Nations in New York. They
didn't even tell us about the terrible mistreatment he had suffered and
the condition he was in. They refused repeated requests for consular
access that normally would have been provided to someone who has been
detained, regardless of their health situation. This included denying
requests, of course, from me, from others in this body and other bodies
of Congress but also from the Obama administration, the Trump
administration, the Red Cross, also from the Government of Sweden,
which typically acts for us in North Korea as a consular service. I say
that because while I support engagement with North Korea--in fact, in
my experience with Otto Warmbier, it makes me even more convinced we
need to have communication because we had no good lines of
communication.
I support the ongoing talks with North Korea, specifically about
denuclearization. I want to make clear that we can never forget about
Otto. His treatment at the hands of his captors was unforgivable, and
it tells us a lot about the nature of the regime. We can't be naive
about what they did to Otto, about the brutal nature of the regime that
would do this to an American citizen.
Of course, it is not just about Otto or other visitors. It is about
how the people of North Korea are treated, many of whom also have had
their human rights violated. No one should have to go through what the
Warmbier family has gone through. They have been incredibly strong, by
the way, through this whole ordeal. I watched them channel their grief
into something constructive, exposing some of the human rights abuses
in North Korea, as an example.
[[Page S1574]]
Throughout this ordeal, I have stood with Fred and Cindy and their
entire family. I will continue to, but I also want to say today, as we
discuss these broader issues with North Korea, let's keep Otto Warmbier
at the front of our minds. Let's be sure he is high on our agenda and
in our consciousness as we deal with North Korea and, again,
understanding, because of our experience with Otto, the brutal nature
of this regime.