Senator Bob Corkeron Wednesday opened Senate debate on the bipartisan North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act, legislation that will expand and tighten enforcement of sanctions for North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile development and other destructive activities of the Kim regime.



“We know all too well that the past two decades of North Korean policy from both Republican and Democratic administrations have been an abject failure,” said Senator Corker in a speech on the Senate floor.

“And while there is no silver bullet solution [to address North Korea], it is clear that Congress must play a proactive role in providing more robust policy tools to the executive branch to confront this threat.”He said, “Our bill sets precedents and puts in place strong mandatory sanctions, and establishes for the first time a statutory framework for sanctions in response to North Korean cyber threats…After the careful work over many months by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, we have a piece of legislation that I believe will allow our country, working with our allies, to begin seizing the initiative in constraining North Korea’s ability to threaten its neighbors and the world with nuclear weapons while also continuing to focus world attention on the plight of the North Korean people.”Complete text of Senator Corker’s remarks on the Senate floor is below:Mr. President, I want to start by thanking the leader for bringing to the floor today the bipartisan North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act. This legislation passed unanimously out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to address a critical national security issue – the nuclear and ballistic missile threat from North Korea.We know all too well that the past two decades of North Korean policy from both Republican and Democratic administrations, have been an abject failure. And while there is no silver bullet solution [to address North Korea], it is clear that Congress must play a proactive role in providing more robust policy tools to the executive branch to confront this threat.There has been a lot of attention on North Korea in the weeks following North Korea’s fourth nuclear test, but Senators Cory Gardner and Bob Menendez demonstrated leadership on North Korea long before recent events.And I want to thank them personally. Senator Gardner, leading, chairing the subcommittee that looks after policy relative to North Korea and Senator Menendez coming together with a robust piece of legislation. I want to thank you for your leadership. You’re [Gardner] new to the committee but certainly not new to addressing problems that our nation faces, and I want to thank you for that.I would like to thank them for their efforts over many months to focus attention on the threat posed by North Korea and to work with Senator Cardin and myself to develop a bipartisan Senate bill.I want to single out Senator Cardin and his staff for the collaborative and constructive manner in which they worked with our team on this important bipartisan piece of legislation.Senators Shaheen and Markey also made important contributions as well.This was truly an all-hands-on-deck bipartisan committee effort to ensure this piece of legislation is one that the Senate, the Congress and the country can be proud of.Over the past decade, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has convened every couple of years at the full committee level to assess the state of U.S. policy toward North Korea.There has been surprisingly little variation in their overall descriptions of the danger and recommended policy prescriptions.Former U.S. officials have all characterized North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities as posing “serious” and “unacceptable” risks to U.S. national interests.These same officials also all stressed the importance of standing with our close regional allies, South Korea and Japan, in the face of destabilizing North Korean provocations.In addition, they all cited the necessity of cooperating with the international community to deter further North Korean provocations and prevent the spread of sensitive technologies to and from North Korea.They all noted the importance of enforcing United Nations (UN) Security Council sanctions on North Korea, specifically the need for China to exercise greater influence over Pyongyang.Now let me just say this: I am personally very disappointed at the way the UN Security Council is functioning. Whether it’s Iran where we had two ballistic missile tests [or the North Korea tests], and yet nothing has been done at the UN Security Council level.Most recently, China sent a delegation to meet with North Korea right before this last test in order to try to influence them, and they were embarrassed. Let me say this: the country of China was embarrassed by the fact that North Korea went ahead with this ballistic test. And yet, in spite of that embarrassment, in spite of the fact that it is their neighbor on their border that is conducting these provocations, they still have not agreed to UN Security Council resolutions to put in place sanctions against North Korea. That is very disappointing.And in recent years, U.S. officials have spoken increasingly of the deplorable human rights situation in North Korea, including highlighting North Korea’s notorious prison camps.Of course there have been some differences in approaches toward North Korea over the years, particularly with respect to the tactics of engaging North Korea and the appropriate balance of carrots and sticks.Yet it is apparent that the past several decades of U.S. policy are not working.North Korea continues to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities unchecked. They have orchestrated malicious cyberattacks that threaten our allies as well as our own national security. Meanwhile, the North Korean people remain impoverished and subject to brutal treatment at the hands of the Kim regime.I appreciate the complexity of the risks posed by North Korea and their limited options; however, there is certainly more that we can and should be doing to address this issue.Our bill sets precedents and puts in place strong mandatory sanctions, and establishes for the first time a statutory framework for sanctions in response to North Korean cyber threats.The president will be required to investigate a wide range of sanctionable conduct, including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), arms-related materials, luxury goods (which affect the elite in that country), human rights abuses, activities undermining cyber security and provision of industrial inputs, such as precious metals or coal for use in a tailored set of activities, including WMD, proliferation activities and prison and labor camps.Penalties include the seizure of assets, visa bans and denial of government contracts.But I am also pleased that this bill goes beyond just these sanctions, which by the way are very strong. And I want to underline the word “mandatory.”It establishes a more robust policy framework, including tools to improve enforcement, and shines a brighter spotlight on North Korea’s abhorrent human rights record such as their forced labor practices.The bill requires a strategy to promote improved implementation and enforcement of multilateral sanctions; a strategy to combat North Korean cyber activities; and a strategy to promote and encourage international engagement on North Korean human rights related issues.There are reporting requirements related to these strategies as well as a report on political prison camps and a feasibility study on providing communications equipment to the people of North Korea.After the careful work over many months by a bipartisan coalition in Congress, we have a piece of legislation that I believe will allow our country, working with our allies, to begin seizing the initiative in constraining North Korea’s ability to threaten its neighbors and the world with nuclear weapons while also continuing to focus world attention on the plight of the North Korean people.I look forward to hearing the perspectives of my colleagues on the significance of this legislation that I expect will receive wide bipartisan support and eventually become law.With that, I thank you, and I yield the floor to my distinguished friend, Ranking Member Senator Cardin.

Afterward, Senator Corker said Senate passage of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 (Gardner-Menendez) will provide the U.S. with “a robust set of tools” to confront the increasingly dangerous nuclear and ballistic missile threat from North Korea. The Senate approved the legislation in a unanimous vote of 96 to 0. North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched a ballistic missile last week in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. Yesterday in testimony before Congress, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper confirmed North Korea’s progress in expanding production of weapons-grade nuclear fuel.

“Today the U.S. Senate in strong bipartisan fashion gave our country a more robust set of tools to confront the growing North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threat,” said Corker. “We can no longer afford to pursue a failing policy while North Korea advances its nuclear capabilities and continues to top lists of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction, perpetrators of cyberattacks, and systemic violators of human rights. This legislation targets a wide range of the regime’s illicit activities as part of establishing a more effective and proactive policy to eliminate the danger from North Korea’s nuclear program and alleviate the suffering of the North Korea people. Achieving these objectives will require increased vigilance by the U.S. and the cooperation of the international community, especially from China, which must stop preventing the United Nations Security Council from taking further action against North Korea.”

He said the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016, which was approved unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, includes the following key provisions:

Sanctions:

· The bill requires the president to investigate sanctionable conduct, including proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), arms-related materials, luxury goods, human rights abuses, activities undermining cyber security and the provision of industrial inputs such as precious metals or coal for use in a tailored set of activities, including WMD, proliferation activities and prison and labor camps.

· The president is mandated to sanction any person found to have materially contributed to, engaged in or facilitated the above activities.

· Penalties for sanctionable activities include the seizure of assets, visa bans and denial of government contracts.

· The president retains the discretionary authority to sanction those transferring or facilitating the transfer of financial assets and property of the North Korean regime.

· The president may waive sanctions, but only on a case-by-case basis.

· The bill requires the Secretary of Treasury to determine whether North Korea is a primary money laundering concern. If such a determination is made, assets must be blocked and special measures applied against those designated persons.

Strategies and Policies:

· The bill requires a strategy to promote improved implementation and enforcement of multilateral sanctions; a strategy to combat North Korean cyber activities; and a strategy to promote and encourage international engagement on North Korean human rights-related issues. There are reporting requirements related to the above strategies as well as a report on political prison camps and a feasibility study on providing communications equipment to the people of North Korea.

· The State Department is required to expand the scope and frequency of travel warnings for North Korea.