[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S759-S760]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   NORTH KOREA SANCTIONS LEGISLATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there is no nation on this planet more 
dedicated to fear and intimidation than North Korea. Its leader Kim 
Jong Un is a brutal dictator. He will stop at nothing to keep his power 
intact and his people isolated. That has been proven.
  To accomplish these objectives, the North Korean Government relies on 
threats to Japan and other neighbors and, of course, the United States. 
Recently, the number of alarming developments out of North Korea has 
accelerated. These acts of aggression are extremely concerning to the 
American community, as they should be.
  Last Saturday, North Korea defied international warnings and launched 
a rocket using ballistic missile technology. This was a flagrant 
violation of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. This 
came less than a month after North Korea detonated a nuclear device, 
also in clear violation of international law.
  That brings us to yesterday, when the U.S. Director of National 
Intelligence, James Clapper, confirmed that North Korea has restarted a 
plutonium reactor. The Director estimated that North Korea would be 
able to recover fuel from its reactor within a matter of weeks or 
months.
  The international community quickly condemned these incidents, as it 
should have. President Obama has been a leader in pushing back against 
the saber-rattling from North Korea. He has worked to galvanize the 
world in opposing North Korea's provocative and destabilizing behavior. 
Under the President's leadership, the United States has built a global 
coalition, including China and Russia, to impose sanctions against 
North Korea.
  There is an international consensus that North Korea's actions 
violate international law and threaten our allies and partners in the 
region. Here in the Capitol there is also broad bipartisan agreement 
that there must be consequences for North Korea's provocations. The 
House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed new sanctions 
legislation. Now the Senate must act. We need to do it today. Two weeks 
ago the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the 
sanctions bill that is now before this body.
  This legislation would require the President to investigate and 
sanction any person who knowingly imports into North Korea certain 
goods, technologies, service, training or advice

[[Page S760]]

concerning weapons of mass destruction. It also directs the President 
to investigate and sanction people who engage in human rights abuses, 
money laundering and related activities, and cyber terrorism or other 
cyber vandalism.
  In addition, the legislation authorizes $15 million to transmit radio 
broadcasts to North Korea for the next 5 years. These are commonsense 
steps that Congress should take in response to North Korea's 
unwarranted provocation. Everyone in the Senate agrees that North 
Korea's aggression cannot go unanswered. Its actions threaten the peace 
and security of the region and, actually, the world. I hope my 
colleagues will join with me in passing this legislation today to send 
a message to Kim Jong Un that his reckless behavior will not go 
unanswered.

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