[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 171 (Monday, December 31, 2012)]
[House]
[Pages H7498-H7500]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CONDEMNING NORTH KOREAN MISSILE LAUNCH

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and 
agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 145) calling for 
universal condemnation of the North Korean missile launch of December 
12, 2012, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the concurrent resolution.
  The text of the concurrent resolution is as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 145

       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1695, 
     unanimously adopted on July 15, 2006, following a series of 
     North Korean missile firings on July 5, 2006, specifically 
     condemned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (North 
     Korea) recent test-firing of a series of missiles, and 
     demanded that the North-East Asian country suspend all 
     ballistic missile related activity and reinstate its 
     moratorium on missile launches;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1695 
     also required all Member States, in accordance with their 
     national legal authorities and legislation and consistent 
     with international law, to exercise vigilance and prevent 
     missile and missile-related items, materials, goods, and 
     technology being transferred to North Korea's missile or 
     weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programmes, and to prevent 
     the procurement of missiles or missile related-items, 
     materials, goods, and technology from North Korea, and the 
     transfer of any financial resources in relation to North 
     Korea's missile or WMD programmes;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, 
     adopted on October 14, 2006, decided that North Korea shall 
     suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile 
     programme and in this context re-establish its pre-existing 
     commitments to a moratorium on missile launching;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 
     also imposed a ban on the sales of military equipment and 
     luxury goods to North Korea as well as a ban on technology 
     transfers;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718 
     further required Member States to prevent the travel of North 
     Korean officials connected to the ballistic missile or 
     nuclear programs, the inspection of cargo from North Korea to 
     assure it was not missile, WMD, or nuclear-related, and the 
     immediate freezing of funds, other financial assets, and 
     economic resources that support these illicit North Korean 
     activities;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874, 
     adopted on June 12, 2009, called upon Member States to 
     inspect, seize, and dispose of proscribed illicit North Korea 
     items related to its missile, nuclear, and

[[Page H7499]]

     WMD programmes and to prevent the provision of financial 
     services or the transfer to, through, or from their territory 
     of any financial or other assets or resources that could 
     contribute to North Korea's nuclear-related, ballistic 
     missile-related, or other WMD-related programmes or 
     activities, and by denying fuel or supplies to service the 
     vessels carrying them;
       Whereas, on December 12, 2012, in flagrant defiance of past 
     United Nations Security Council resolutions, the 
     international community, and its Six-Party partners, North 
     Korea launched a three-stage, long-range missile, which 
     overflew Japanese territory near Okinawa and dropped debris 
     into the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and waters adjacent 
     to the Philippines;
       Whereas North Korea's latest provocative and defiant action 
     represents a direct threat to the United States Armed Forces 
     in the Asia/Pacific region and regional allies and friends, 
     including Australia, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of 
     Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan and is a potential future threat 
     to the United States and its people, including those residing 
     in Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, and the west coast of the United 
     States mainland; and
       Whereas there has been extensive cooperation on missile 
     development and military cooperation between the Governments 
     of North Korea and Iran that dates back to the 1980s: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the North Korean missile launch of December 12, 2012, 
     represents a flagrant violation of United Nations Security 
     Council resolutions 825 (1993), 1540 (2004), 1695 (2006), 
     1718 (2006), and 1874 (2009), that North Korea continues to 
     defy the United Nations, its Six-Party partners, and the 
     international community, and that the Member States should 
     immediately impose sanctions covered by these resolutions and 
     censure North Korea;
       (2) all current restrictions against the Government of 
     North Korea, including sanctions that ban the importation 
     into the United States of North Korean products and goods, 
     should remain in effect until the Government of North Korea 
     no longer engages in activities that threaten United States 
     interests and global peace and stability;
       (3) the Government of China should cooperate with the 
     United States in pursuit of a new round of United Nations 
     Security Council sanctions, to pressure its North Korean 
     partner, redouble its efforts to prevent Chinese companies 
     from transferring military and dual-use technologies to North 
     Korea, and to crack down on transshipments through China that 
     relate to North Korean military, missile, and nuclear 
     programs and proliferation activities; and
       (4) North Korea should abandon and dismantle its 
     provocative missile and nuclear weapons programs, cease its 
     proliferation activities, and come into immediate compliance 
     with all relevant international agreements and United Nations 
     Security Council resolutions.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Poe of Texas). Pursuant to the rule, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Berman) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida.


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and to include extraneous material in the Record on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise to support this strongly bipartisan measure which condemns the 
latest provocation by North Korea. Pyongyang has once again flagrantly 
violated past United Nations Security Council resolutions and the 
assurances given to Six-Party partners.
  I would also like to take this opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to sincerely 
congratulate President-elect Park for her victory in South Korea's 
hard-fought presidential election.
  The Republic of Korea is one of our Nation's closest friends in Asia. 
Ours is a steadfast alliance forged in the crucible of war. Two decades 
ago, with all eyes on Europe, the United States prematurely celebrated 
victory over communism and an end to the Cold War. But in 1989, the 
same year the Berlin Wall fell, tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square, 
crushing, in a bloody massacre, the democracy movement of the Chinese 
people. So while communism fell in Europe, it was revitalized in the 
world's most populous nation and preserved in North Korea and in my 
native homeland of Cuba.
  Pyongyang's recent missile launch awakens America to the fact that 
the shadow of communism still casts a long shadow over Asia. North 
Korea's expanding nuclear and missile proliferation threaten not only 
our allies in the Pacific, but potentially our own people as well. In 
Asia, the Cold War never ended, and the United States and South Korean 
forces stand guard together on this last frontier.
  Attempts to engage Pyongyang over the past 4 years have been met with 
repeated provocations: the kidnapping of two American journalists, 
repeated missile launches, one more nuclear test, the sinking of a 
South Korean naval vessel with the loss of 46 lives, and the shelling 
of a South Korean island.

                              {time}  1210

  How much more should we endure before we say, Enough is enough?
  Sweet-talking Pyongyang only seems to inspire further belligerence. 
Our extended hand is met not only with a clenched fist but a fist 
grasping a knife. Those who had hoped for openness and reform from this 
new generation of the Kim dynasty saw their dreams go up in smoke on a 
North Korean launch pad. The only answer appears to be a coordinated, 
firm, international strategy in which current sanctions are reinforced 
and strengthened. This, of course, requires the cooperation of Beijing, 
a U.N. Security Council permanent member who deceptively seems to tell 
one thing to Washington and yet another to Pyongyang.
  Press articles hailed the fact that China, in anticipation of the 
recent launch, had begun inspecting cargo on North Korean ships in 
search of contraband. The question this raises is: Why has China not 
been inspecting North Korean ships since 2006, as was first called for 
in a U.N. resolution, which was reinforced by another resolution in the 
year 2009? If U.N. member states would only enforce the sanctions 
currently on the books, North Korea would be unable to ignore the 
international community and the civilized world.
  The time for coordinated international action is now. The time, in 
fact, is long overdue.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 
145, as amended, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to thank the sponsor of this legislation, the chairman 
of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for her leadership 
on this issue and for her work in addressing the North Korean threat.
  Earlier this month, North Korea carried out a missile launch using 
ballistic missile technology in direct defiance of the international 
community. This important resolution condemns North Korea's launch, and 
it calls on the North to live up to its commitments, to adhere to its 
international obligations and to deal peacefully with its neighbors.
  North Korea's missile launch is a blatant violation of U.N. Security 
Council resolutions 1718 and 1874, and we urge the Security Council to 
take strong and concerted action to demonstrate that Pyongyang's 
actions are completely unacceptable. In particular, we call on China 
and Russia to work constructively with other members of the Council to 
show that the international community is united in condemning North 
Korea's provocative behavior.
  North Korea is only further isolating itself with its irresponsible 
action, and the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons 
will never bring the real security and acceptance by the international 
community that the regime so desperately wants. Instead of pouring 
hundreds of millions of dollars into its so-called space program, 
nuclear programs, and massive military, North Korea should instead work 
to feed its own citizens and improve its dismal economy.
  We must continue to remain vigilant in the face of North Korean 
provocations and fully committed to the security of our allies in the 
region, so I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. I would like to yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce), the chairman of the 
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade 
and the chairman-designate of the full committee in the next Congress. 
I thank

[[Page H7500]]

him for his leadership on this and many of the issues that are facing 
our Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Mr. ROYCE. Thank you very much, Chairman, for yielding.
  I rise in support of this resolution, of which I am an original 
cosponsor.
  I think Members are very rightly concerned now, as the same 
technology that's used to put a satellite into space is also used to 
launch a ballistic missile. This experiment by North Korea is 
definitely an advance for them. It is definitely a threat to the 
region. It is definitely a threat to the United States because what 
we're talking about here are three-stage ICBMs.
  It is estimated that North Korea has spent $3 billion since 1998 on 
that missile program, which is the amount of money that would have 
bought enough corn to feed that country over the last 3 years. I have 
been to North Korea, and I've seen the malnutrition. Instead of feeding 
its people, it continues to plow billions of dollars into its military. 
That's the type of despicable regime we're dealing with--where $3 
billion went into this project instead of feeding the population. This 
is why the House has passed legislation to prohibit the United States 
from giving food aid to North Korea. When we do so, money is fungible, 
and we have found in the past that that aid is both used to feed the 
military and it's sold on the exchange for hard currency.
  U.S. policy towards North Korea--hoping that North Korea will give up 
its weapons for aid--has been a failure. It has been a bipartisan 
failure, frankly, for decades, and it has gotten us now to this point. 
The hope that North Korea can be induced to abandon its ambitions for 
nuclear weapons and missiles distracts us, unfortunately. It distracts 
us from pursuing the very policies that might actually change the 
behavior of the regime and support its people.
  In going forward, we need to move away from an unimaginative policy 
here to one with energy and creativity and focus. Let's tackle North 
Korea's illicit activities--its missile and drug proliferation, its 
counterfeiting of U.S. currency. This regime will do anything for 
money. As many North Koreans who have left will tell you, this is a 
gangster regime. Let's interfere with those shipments and disrupt the 
bank accounts that are used. Let's ramp up radio broadcasts into the 
country where there is evidence that the information wall is cracking. 
We see that with the defectors who are telling us about how much they 
oppose the regime now. Let's help the refugees who are literally dying 
to escape the prison north of the 38th parallel.
  Severely weakening the regime is the only way to make the Korean 
peninsula secure. Until it was dropped in favor of a failed diplomacy 
program several years ago, the Treasury Department went after North 
Korea. If we can remember 2006, we went after North Korea's ill-gotten 
gains that were parked in a Macau bank. We put the brakes on North 
Korea's counterfeiting of U.S. currency. We cut the flow of currency to 
the regime. The head of state could not pay his generals. It created a 
crisis inside North Korea.
  That policy was mistakenly dropped. I'd like to see it reapplied. 
Let's go back to where we are proactively defending U.S. interests 
instead of just condemning another North Korean provocation every few 
months. Let's do something that has been proven to work in terms of 
putting the pressure on North Korea.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I also have no further requests for 
time, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the House suspend the 
rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 145, as 
amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a 
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not 
present.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further 
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
  The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.

                          ____________________