In the News

The House Foreign Affairs Committee today passed sweeping legislation strengthening sanctions against North Korea and approving an amendment authored by Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) requiring North Korea to take action to facilitate unrestricted family reunification meetings.

The sanctions bill, cosponsored by Congressman Connolly, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, provides for tougher sanctions against North Korea for its brutality against its people and its aggressive and dangerous actions and threats on the world stage.

Connolly’s amendment to the bill, which passed unanimously, calls for increased efforts to provide for unrestricted family unification meetings among Koreans, including for those individuals in the Korean-American community who maintain family ties with relatives in North Korea.

“We must speak out,” Congressman Connolly said at Thursday’s hearing.  “We will stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of North Korea in their quest for freedom.”

Taking to the House floor after the committee approval of the bill and Connolly’s amendment, the Virginia Congressman praised the passage of the bipartisan bill.  “We as Americans cannot ignore the suppression, oppression, and degradation that occur in North Korea today,” Connolly said. “Two hundred thousand North Koreans are in gulags, and freedom of religion and political expression are repressed.  We can’t ignore the terrible suffering, the prevention of the reunification of Korean families, and the complete lack of humanitarian regard by this brutal regime.”

The bill – The North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2014 – addresses money laundering, currency counterfeiting, the violation of UN Security Council resolutions and financial restrictions, and various other offenses committed by North Korea. It also addresses human rights abuses and promotes unrestricted communications to the people of North Korea. 

The legislation – H.R. 1771 -- requires the President to investigate and apply sanctions against North Korea and other governments, businesses, and organizations that assist North Korea in conducting illicit and aggressive activities, as well as human rights abuses.

“Our bill makes it more difficult for the North Korean regime to obtain the hard currency it needs for the development of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction,” Connolly said.  “It will inhibit banks in other countries from doing business with the regime.”

Connolly predicted the legislation will pass the full House when the bill comes to the floor for consideration.

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Statement of Congressman Gerald E. Connolly (VA-11^th)

H.R. 1771 – the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2014

House Committee on Foreign Affairs

May 29, 2014

I would like to thank Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel for bringing H.R. 1771, the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act of 2014, to the Full Committee for markup. This legislation, which I am pleased to cosponsor, provides us with the opportunity to communicate that our Committee and the Congress is resolved to hold North Korea accountable for its brutality against its people and the erratic and dangerous manner in which it conducts itself on the world stage.

This comprehensive sanctions legislation addresses money laundering, currency counterfeiting, the violation of UN Security Council resolutions and financial restrictions, and various other offenses committed by North Korea. It also addresses human rights abuses and promotes unrestricted communications to the citizens of North Korea.

The sanctions are warranted, as North Korea is a reckless international actor that has amassed a litany of violations and abuses of international law. It continues to develop a nuclear weapons program in defiance of the United National Security Council and worldwide condemnation. North Korea supports the development of Iranian missile technology and nuclear capabilities. Hamas and Hezbollah, both designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States, receive missile technology and training from North Korea that they have used to attack Israel, an ally of the United States. United Nations Security Council resolutions deterring missile tests and launches are routinely flouted. It is clear that a pattern of behavior has developed in North Korea that should be concerning to all in the international community. 

In addition to the legislation before us today, I also am an original cosponsor of H.R. 673, the North Korea Sanctions and Diplomatic Nonrecognition Act of 2013.  H.R. 673 calls on the Secretary of State to redesignate North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism and to continue to withhold formal diplomatic recognition of the Kim Jong Un regime. Both pieces of legislation send a strong and clear message to North Korea that its international transgressions are not without consequence. The United States will not and cannot allow an authoritarian regime to operate with impunity and threaten our national security and the security of our allies.

Of course, the United States and international community should not only address the aggression North Korea has projected outward. The atrocities committed inside the borders of North Korea are equally disturbing and deserving of condemnation. The status of human rights seems to have regressed under Kim Jong Un. A recent United Nations report recounts, in horrifying detail, the “offenses” which land individuals in labor camps; including misspelling the name of Kim Jong Il. Deplorable conditions persist in the nation’s system of gulags that reports say contain 200,000 prisoners. People seeking refuge from the oppressive regime must disregard public executions used to intimidate the populace and brave a “shoot to kill” threat levied against citizens attempting to cross the border with China.

Family reunifications between South Korean families and their loved ones behind the DMZ remain limited to fleeting reunions. I thank the Chairman and Committee staff for working with me on an amendment that makes the suspension of sanctions in this legislation conditional on North Korea making significant progress in planning for unrestricted family reunification meetings, including for those individuals among the two-million strong Korean-American community who maintain family ties with relatives in North Korea.

Pyongyang must pay, and the lives of North Koreans must be improved. I applaud this legislation for levying extensive sanctions against bad actors in the North Korean saga, while recognizing the urgency of humanitarian, medical and food assistance for North Korean citizens. Rest assured that no such reprieve is offered by Pyongyang. Again, I commend my colleagues for finding common ground on North Korea sanctions and for taking decisive action against this despotic regime.     

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