On the recordJanuary 11, 2016
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate Leader McCarthy working with myself, working with Ranking Member Eliot Engel of New York to schedule this legislation for floor consideration. Last week, North Korea conducted its fourth known nuclear test. The Kim regime has developed increasingly destructive weapons. What we are concerned about here is the miniaturization of nuclear warheads that fit onto its most reliable missiles. We are also concerned about the submarine tests for firing from a sub these missiles that would be capable of launching those devices. We are concerned about the ongoing efforts to make certain that they have got the range now on a three-stage rocket, ICBM, to hit the United States. This threat is unacceptable, and it has to be aggressively challenged. The legislation that we are considering here is the most comprehensive North Korea sanctions legislation to come before this body. Importantly, what this bill does is use targeted financial and economic pressure to isolate Kim Jong-un and his top officials from the assets that they maintain in foreign banks and from the hard currency that sustains their rule. These assets are derived primarily from illicit activities, such as counterfeiting U.S. currency, something that North Korea has been caught doing with hundred-dollar bank notes, such as selling their missile systems around the world, contraband in cigarettes, drugs, and other illicit activities.…
