[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 132 (Tuesday, August 7, 2018)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E1127-E1128] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] REFLECTIONS ON THE 73RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI ______ HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE of texas in the house of representatives Tuesday, August 7, 2018 Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in remembrance of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that ushered in the nuclear age 73 years ago this week. The atomic bombs that devastated Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 thankfully represent the only instances where the awesome destructive power of nuclear weapons were unleashed. While it is true that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki helped to bring a speedy and decisive end to the conflict in the Pacific theater during World War II, it is also true that devastation and carnage wrought by those explosions was a vivid reminder and compelling reason for the international community to work in concert to prevent the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons. And for 73 years, the international community, led by the United States, has deterred every nation on earth from using nuclear weapons although it has been less successful in deterring several nation-states from developing their nuclear weapons capability. So while we pause to remember the victims who perished in, and the lives that were saved by, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is critically important that we take this moment to redouble our commitment towards nuclear nonproliferation and banishing the threat of nuclear annihilation from the earth. Mr. Speaker, since 1945 preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology has been a pillar of the U.S.-led, rules-based international order that has brought an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity the United States and its allies in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific. It is this commitment to nuclear non-proliferation that has led the United States to [[Page E1128]] work with the international community to keep rogue nations from developing their own nuclear arsenals, the most recent achievement in this regard is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated with the Iranian government in 2015. Multilateral efforts like the JCPOA were made possible by responsible, level-headed leadership that did not needlessly engage in brinksmanship. Today, the world faces a grave threat from the rogue and hostile regime in Pyongyang in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we continually seek to reduce the risk of war, and this is not accomplished through the use of overheated, reckless, and bombastic rhetoric, or foolish and short- sighted actions like the current President's decision to withdraw from the JCPOA. It is vitally important that the President learns the importance of using restrained and judicious rhetoric in trying to diffuse this delicate situation. Mr. Speaker, blustery statements and bombastic tweets will not defuse the tense situation on the Korean peninsula or frighten the regime in North Korea. Instead, we must employ the full arsenal of America's smart power assets--diplomacy, economic sanctions--to persuade North Korea that it is in its self-interest to turn away from the dangerous path it is traveling. The United States does not harbor hostile intentions toward North Korea and is seeking to overthrow the regime in Pyongyang. Mr. Speaker, thoughtful, sober, carefully calibrated diplomatic engagement with North Korea represents America's best option and holds the promise of a favorable and peaceful outcome, just as was achieved with the JCPOA and the 1994 Agreed Framework reached with North Korea that stopped North Korea's nuclear weapons program for nine years. On July 16, 1945, after witnessing the first test of the atomic bomb in Alamagordo, New Mexico, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the director of the Manhattan Project, remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita: ``Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.'' Mr. Speaker, for more than 70 years the international community, led by the most indispensable of nations, the United States, has kept the nuclear genie in the bottle. We have been successful to date in no small part due to the thoughtful, persistent, judicious, restrained application of American power by responsible, sober, determined, informed Presidents of the United States, from Harry Truman through Barack Obama. When he took the oath of office on January 20, 2017, that torch, and the burden of leadership, was passed to Donald Trump and all Americans are anxiously still waiting and praying he can rise to the occasion. ____________________