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[Page: E2875]

• Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, North Korea's relentless effort to develop a nuclear bomb has reached crisis proportions. Director of Central Intelligence R. James Woolsey testified before Congress earlier this year that North Korea is the most urgent threat to our national security in East Asia, that there is a real possibility that North Korea has produced enough nuclear material to build at least one bomb, and that possession by North Korea of such a bomb would threaten United States allies in all of Asia as well as United States forces in the region.

• The administration has acknowledged the seriousness of the threat, but so far has been unable to persuade North Korea to permit fullscope inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency of all suspected nuclear weapons sites. Without such inspections, there can be no assurance that North Korea is not continuing to produce nuclear material, much less that it is not using the material it already has to build a bomb.

• The administration has indicated that it is prepared to take stronger measures if North Korea does not promptly comply with its obligation as a party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to permit fullscope inspections. Most discussion of stronger measures focuses on the possibility of a U.N.-imposed embargo. The President has recently refused, however, to rule out the possibility of military action.

• To underscore Congress' concern about this matter, I am today introducing the nuclear nonproliferation in Korea resolution. My resolution expresses Congress' approval and support for the steps at the administration has taken to date. Further, it approves and encourages the use by the President of any additional means necessary and appropriate, including diplomacy, economic sanctions, a blockade, and military force, to prevent the development, acquisition, or use by North Korea of a nuclear explosive device.

• Approving use by the President of all means necessary and appropriate to prevent North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons, including military force, is a step that Congress cannot take lightly. But neither can the threat posed by North Korea's determination to obtain nuclear weapons be taken lightly. I believe my resolution is a response commensurate to the threat. -

• In introducing my resolution, I do not express an opinion as to whether it would be appropriate at this time for the President to employ any of the means to which it refers. Indeed, I understand that there is a serious question whether some of those means, particularly military force, would be effective now or at any time in the future. My resolution defers to the President regarding which means are necessary and appropriate to prevent North Korea from obtaining a nuclear weapon. It is intended to make clear that he will have the support of Congress for any necessary and appropriate measures that he employs.

• Last week the House of Representatives debated the question of when United States forces should be withdrawn from Somalia. It was repeatedly argued during that debate that Congress should not call upon the President to withdraw United States forces from Somalia because the regime in North Korea might misinterpret such action to mean that Congress will not support the administration's efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation in Korea.

• Nothing could be further from the truth. Congress' concerns about open-ended United States involvement in Somalia have nothing to do with the situation in Korea, or anyplace else in the world where vital United States interests are threatened. It is precisely because the United States has no vital interests in Somalia that so many Members of Congress have pushed for the prompt withdrawal of United States forces from that country. Where vital U.S. interests are threatened, however, I am confident that a large majority of Members will support appropriate U.S. action.

• There should be no doubt about this anywhere in the world. Enactment of my resolution will ensure that there is no doubt about it in North Korea.

[Page: E2876]

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