On the recordJanuary 13, 2016
Mr. Speaker, in the wake of North Korea's alleged hydrogen bomb test last week, the House of Representatives yesterday passed the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act and sent a strong signal that the United States will not tolerate such hostile behavior. Yesterday's legislation strengthens and expands our existing sanctions against North Korea, increases our investigations into nefarious activities that support North Korea's weapons programs and human rights abuses, and holds bad actors accountable when they engage with North Korea to launder money, traffic narcotics, or carry out cybersecurity attacks. I am glad that the final bill includes a measure I proposed stressing the strategic importance of U.S. trilateral cooperation and military intelligence-sharing with Japan and South Korea. The United States will uphold its commitment to Japan and South Korea, protect their security in the face of the North Korean threat, and work to preserve stability in the Asia-Pacific region. ____________________





