U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., is leading the charge to relist North Korea as a state sponsor of terror.
Ros-Lehtinen, currently the chairwoman of the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and formerly the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced a bill at the end of last week to put North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
While then-President George W. Bush insisted North Korea was part of the axis of evil in 2001, he removed the Asian nation from the list of state sponsors of terror back in 2008 -- a move Ros-Lehtinen said she opposed.
While recent events have reaffirmed the nefarious nature of the North Korean regime, the evidence has been building for years that North Korea should have never been taken off the State Sponsor of Terrorism list in the first place, Ros-Lehtinen said on Thursday. In 2008, I opposed the Bush administration taking North Korea off the list and, ever since then, I have been advocating for putting North Korea back on because that is the true nature of this murderous regime. Pyongyang has flagrantly violated United Nations Security Council resolutions time and time again and has not honored the assurances given to Six-Party partners.
Ros-Lehtinens bill is getting the support of some leading figures in Congress including U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., currently the chairman of the House Asia and Pacific Subcommittee, and U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, the chairman of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee. U.S. Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., is also co-sponsoring the bill.
Ros-Lehtinen made her case as to why North Korea should be listed as a state sponsor of terror.
From kidnapping U.S. citizens, to repeated missile launches, sinking a South Korean naval vessel, an appalling human rights record, and to the recent cyber attacks, it is clear that the North Koreans feel emboldened and the U.S. must respond with enforcing and applying stricter sanctions, Rod-Lehtinen said. For our own national security, as well as that of our allies, especially those in the region like South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, we cannot allow North Korea to continue sponsoring terror without consequences.
If the U.S. secretary of state determines a nation is a state sponsor of terrorism, pursuant to U.S. laws, that county will have U.S. foreign aid restricted and defense exports and sales banned, while other exports will face restrictions. Nations listed as state sponsors of terrorism also face miscellaneous financial and other restrictions according to the U.S. State Department.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
