“A girl was taken. She is gone almost 50 years. Her mother is old. A boy's mother was taken when he was a baby. Many Japanese people were taken. Most are still missing. Their families are old or dead. This also happened to an American. North Korea takes people. I want the President to tell Kim Jong-un this is wrong. I want him to say bring the people back. I want him to say tell us what happened to the missing people. This is not just about weapons. It is about people.”

“North Korea has kidnapped Japanese citizens and an American student, and their families are still waiting for answers. I want President Trump to bring this up directly with Kim Jong-un. He must push for the return of every kidnapped person.”

“Madam Speaker, imagine sending your 13-year-old daughter to school and waiting nearly 50 years for her to come home. That is what Sakie Yokota has endured since North Korean agents abducted her daughter, Megumi, in 1977. As a parent, that thought is absolutely heartbreaking. I think about my own sons. I imagine them growing up without me at an age so young that, after all those years, they might not even recognize my face. Koichiro Iizuka knows what that is like. His mother was abducted when he was just 1 year old. There are 17 Japanese citizens officially recognized as having been abducted by North Korea. While 5 returned home, 12 remain unaccounted for. Their families have grown old waiting. Many passed away. Sakie is now 90 years old. Every year without answers is another year stolen from them. This is not only Japan's tragedy. David Sneddon, an American college student who disappeared while hiking in China in 2004, is also believed by his family and many others to have been abducted by North Korea. His fate remains unknown. These cases are a warning. When governments are allowed to make people disappear, no family and no country are beyond their reach. Japan is one of America's closest friends and allies. If President Trump has an opportunity to speak to Kim Jong-un, he must raise these abductions directly. He must press for the return of every abductee and a full, credible accounting for those who remain missing, including David Sneddon. Diplomacy cannot be limited to weapons, sanctions, and security agreements. It must also be about human beings. Democracies must stand together in defense of our people and their most basic human rights. Time has already taken far too much from these families. We cannot allow silence to take away their last hope for answers.”

“A radio station in my district lost $83,000. They were the only station people could hear during a hurricane. They relayed updates and told people where to get help. The station was made for emergencies. This is why we need to spend more taxpayer money on public broadcasting. It's not just for entertainment. It's a lifeline during disasters. I want Congress to restore the funding.”

“I want Congress to restore funding for public broadcasting. These stations are not just for entertainment. They are lifelines during disasters. During a recent hurricane in Hawaii, our local radio station lost federal money, but it was the only station left on the air giving people emergency updates.”

“Madam Speaker, this is not the first time I have taken to the floor to talk about Kauai Community Radio, KKCR. When Congress defunded the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, KKCR lost $83,000. I warned then that this wasn't simply about radio programming. It was about whether communities would have a trusted lifeline when disaster strikes. Last week, Hurricane Lowell proved the point. When the storm hit Kauai, power went out across the island. Cell service and internet became unreliable. Roads were blocked. Trees came down. Communities were cut off. KKCR stayed on the air. When the power failed, they switched to a generator. When the internet went down, they used a donated Starlink connection. When trees went down around their North Shore station, they kept broadcasting. For a time, KKCR was the only station that Kauai could hear. They carried updates from the mayor and emergency management officials. They relayed calls from listeners who were reporting weather, road conditions, and power outages in their neighborhoods. They told people where they could find food, ice, water, and help. They played music to keep people calm. In the digital age, when clocks and phones had gone dark, they even reminded people what time it was. KKCR was founded after Hurricane Iniki to provide emergency communication. More than three decades later, Hurricane Lowell shows us why that mission still matters. This is what Congress put at risk when it cut public broadcasting-- not entertainment but a lifeline. We must restore this funding because when the next disaster comes, the question is not whether people will need KKCR. It is whether KKCR will still be on the air to answer the call.”