Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Attends Dinner Commemorating60th Anniversary of Korean War

(WASHINGTON, DC)– Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, who represents the Sixth Congressional District of New York, was among the attendees at the 2010 Annual Dinner of the Korea Society. Held in New York City, the gala event which coincided with the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War, honored both American and South Korean veterans who served in the conflict.

“This event was a testament to the enduring value of the friendship and solidarity that the American people and the people of the Republic of Korea have built in war and peace,” Congressman Meeks noted. “Recent events underscore the importance of strengthening mutually beneficial relations between our two countries,” he added. “As Gen. Colin L. Powell observed in his remarks, the U.S.-South Korea relationship has prevented a resumption of all-out conflict on the Korean Peninsula. The resulting six decades of stability and relative security has enabled the people of the Republic of South Korea to grow a viable democracy, a modern, highly competitive economy, and emerge as one of our most important allies in the region and the world.”

Meeks underscored the importance of expanding the economic and commercial bonds between Korea and the United States: “South Korea has begun to recover from the global recession. South Korean investment in the United States can be an important course of job growth, and U.S. exports to South Korean markets can also play a job-creating role here. A mutually beneficial way of achieving this would be for Congress to pass the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.”

Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and national security adviser, was the keynote speaker. He and General Pail Sun Yup, the Republic of Korea’s top military leader during the Korean War, also received the Korea Society’s prestigious Van Fleet Award.

Congressman Meeks was the only member of Congress in attendance in a group of dignitaries that included United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, numerous Korean War veterans, diplomats, and business leaders. Meeks, whose district includes most of Southeast Queens and parts of the Rockaway Peninsula, is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has long been active on issues affecting U.S. interests in the Pacific Rim.

Now serving in his sixth full-term, Meeks was elected to the House on February 3, 1998. Representing New York's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, Meeks' district covers all towns of Southeast Queens, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Congressman Meeks is the Chairman of the International Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee. He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), New Democrats Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC). He serves as the Co-chair of the Malaysia Caucus, Services Caucus, Dialogue Caucus, OAS Caucus and the Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus.