Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I will speak briefly about what Senator McCain and I are trying to do. My amendment says that no funds will be…”

“I will speak briefly about what Senator McCain and I are trying to do. My amendment says that no funds will be contributed to North Korea until the President has certified that North Korea is not providing ballistic missiles or ballistic missile technology to a country, the government of which the Secretary of State has determined is a terrorist government. This adds to Senator McCain's amendment which has the same prohibition of funding for North Korea if they are continuing to build a nuclear weapon. Senator McCain and I are clearly saying that the United States will not continue to fund an agreement with North Korea that we know is being violated. The McCain amendment deals with the nuclear capability North Korea appears to be building. It would restrict the use of funds for the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization pending a Presidential certification that North Korea has stopped its nuclear weapons program as it has promised to do. My amendment adds the requirement that North Korea is not transferring ballistic missile technology to other terrorist countries. Mr. President, this week, we saw what trying to coerce and reward a totalitarian dictatorship will achieve. North Korea launched a two-stage ballistic missile toward Japan, a country which has provided emergency food relief to North Korea and wound up having a ballistic missile pass through their air space as thanks.”