On the recordJune 20, 2012
the Kerry-Lugar amendment is a side-by-side amendment, frankly, which will counter the amendment of the Senator from Arizona, Mr. Kyl. We all join in abhorring the conduct of the Government of North Korea. Nobody contests that. The question here is whether we want to have a complete prohibition on any humanitarian assistance, without the possibility of a Presidential waiver in the event that the President, as a matter of national policy, as a matter of our humanitarian policy, decides that something has changed in North Korea or there is behavior that has been altered by North Korea, as in Burma. If we don't have a Presidential waiver, the Kyl amendment permanently locks in--until there is other congressional action--a complete prohibition on any humanitarian assistance to the people--not the government but the people, the children and families of North Korea. Ronald Reagan said very clearly that ``a hungry child knows no politics.'' I believe we ought to uphold that principle and have the Presidential waiver in this particular case. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
