The three remaining Korean War veterans in Congress introduced legislation on July 27 calling for a formal end to the war after 62 years in a state of armistice. The resolution—authored by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.?), and Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas)—pays tribute to the war’s veterans, its victims, and divided families; calls on the international community to support the formation of a unified Korea and assist efforts to promote denuclearization, economic prosperity, human rights and the rule of law on the Peninsula. “The fact that the Korean Peninsula is still technically in a state of war is wrong,” Johnson said in a joint statement. “The people of Korea, our American veterans who served during this war, and their families all deserve the closure that a formal ending to this conflict—and reunification of North and South Korea—would bring.” Some 5.7 million Americans served in the war, and the US suffered 54,246 casualties from 1950 to 1953. The war also claimed the lives of 2.5 million Korean civilians and the separation of 10 million families.
Senior U.S. lawmakers expressed frustration that they are being cut out of some of the Trump administration’s most central decisions on military policy and spending. Their concerns, which are shared on both sides of the aisle, concern the budget reconciliation process as well as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash…