[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1555]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              North Korea

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I would like to begin with a few 
words on President Trump's Hanoi summit with North Korea. The President 
should be commended for his personal commitment to persuading Kim Jong 
Un to pursue a different path.
  By January 2017, it was clear the prior administration's policy of 
strategic patience had not worked. In retrospect, it was not very 
strategic to sit patiently while North Korea dramatically expanded its 
nuclear and missile capabilities. The Trump administration, in taking a 
different path, moved quickly to adopt the policy of maximum pressure, 
rallying international partners to respond firmly to North Korea's 
provocations. The President also demonstrated a willingness to engage 
the North Korean leader directly, breathing new life into our diplomacy 
to solve this seemingly intractable problem.
  The President has gone the extra mile to demonstrate his sincerity in 
wanting to resolve this issue. It was smart to bring Kim Jong Un to 
Singapore and to Vietnam to expose the North Korean delegation to the 
kind of economic prosperity that could be possible if he were to choose 
a new path.
  High-level diplomacy can carry high-level risk, but the President 
should be commended for walking away when it became clear insufficient 
progress had been made on denuclearization. Kim Jong Un now has a long 
train ride home, and he will have time to reflect on the future that is 
still within North Korea's grasp, but the President has demonstrated 
that such a future must be accompanied by real denuclearization.
  Every country has a stake in North Korea's denuclearization. I hope 
China and other countries with influence over Kim Jong Un will do their 
part to urge him to return to the negotiating table and seize the 
opportunity to bring prosperity to the people of North Korea and peace 
and stability to the Korean Peninsula and to the region.