Robert Menendez

Foreign Relations Chairman Menendez Announces Committee Approval of North Korea Nonproliferation and Accountability Act of 2013

February 14, 2013

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez announced today that the Foreign Relations Committee approved the North Korea Nonproliferation and Accountability Act of 2013.
 
Citing the President’s characterization of North Korea’s recent nuclear test as a provocation that requires a firm response in his State of the Union Address, Chairman Menendez said, “This bipartisan bill -- cosponsored by Senators Boxer, Cardin, Corker, Donnelly, Feinstein, Inhofe, and Rubio -- adds Congress’s voice to the international community’s condemnation of North Korea’s blatantly provocative actions.”
 
Chairman Menendez's full statement is below:

“North Korea’s February 12 nuclear test and its ballistic missile programs constitutes a threat to U.S. national security and regional peace and stability, demonstrates North Korea's continued defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, contravenes its commitments under the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks, and increases the risk of proliferation. It is the latest step in a long pattern of misbehavior, including attacks on a U.S. treaty ally, South Korea. This provocative and destabilizing act has rightly has been condemned by the United States and the international community and will serve only to further isolate North Korea.
 
"The bill, as voted out of Committee, has three fundamental provisions. It condemns North Korea’s provocative nuclear tests, increases sanctions on North Korea, and enhances our military’s posture in the region to safeguard our interests and the interests of our allies. It calls for the U.S. government to seek the agreement of the United Nations Human Rights council and General Assembly to adopt the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in North Korea. And it requires the Secretary of State to submit to Congress a repost on United States policy towards North Korea and to make recommendations for additional policy options in light of North Korea’s continued provocations.
 
“This legislation will support the necessary, swift and credible action by the United States, our allies and partners, and the international community to demonstrate to North Korea that it will never improve its security and gain international acceptance through the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. These can only come when it abides by international norms, lives up to its commitments and international obligations, and works to feed its citizens, to educate its children, and to win the trust of its neighbors.”

###