James A. Leach
Iowa's Congressman for the Second District
Republican
Elected in November 1976 to the 95th Congress
and each succeeding Congress
Posted on 07/21/2005 11:27:38 PM PDT by HAL9000
WASHINGTON, July 22 (Yonhap) -- Rep. James Leach has obtained a visa to enter North Korea and is expected to travel there late next month, multiple sources said Thursday.Two-term Congressman Leach (R-Iowa). chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, had shown interest in visiting the North in the past.
His office declined to comment, but one source, speaking on condition of anonymity said, "I am glad he is going."
A State Department official, also asking not to be named, said the general practice of the department is to "encourage" congressional visits. Another source called the reactions there "positive."
Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa), a ranking member, may also go with Leach, according to the sources who tied the significance of the visit with their high positions in the subcommittee.
The visit would follow the six-party North Korean nuclear talks opening in Beijing on Tuesday. Delegations from South and North Korea, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia will gather in the Chinese capital to pick up negotiations that have been suspended since June last year.
The focus of the multilateral talks is to end Pyongyang's atomic weapons program, and participants have not set the closing date for their meeting.
Leach, a vocal advocate for improved human rights in the Stalinist state, opposes military action and criticizes the Bush administration for employing provocative language against the regime.
Bush has described North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as a "tyrant," while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the regime "an outpost of tyranny."
"I can think of nothing more foolhardy than military engagement with North Korea," the congressman said at Tuesday's North Korean human rights conference.
"If one is not committed to war, then one should not commit to the language of war. This must particularly be understood by officials and grantees of the U.S. government," he said.
His terms must be 15 years long.
James A. Leach
Iowa's Congressman for the Second District
Republican
Elected in November 1976 to the 95th Congress
and each succeeding Congress
Perhaps he can visit me here in Seoul and have a beer or two.
Are we sure he isn't going as a covert agent and now he's been outted?
Why is Leach going?
Do Iowans need to sell grain so badly as to ignore despotism?
Jim Leach worked at the State Department before being elected to Congress and still has close ties there. You can bet that this trip is fully approved by Secretary Rice.
Socialist Iowan RINO alert!
Given the number of blue counties in his district -- not to mention Iowa City -- we could do a LOT worse (and likely will, when Leach decides to retire).
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