Sec. 2. Findings

417 words·~2 min read·/bill/115/s/1591/rs/section-2

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Congress finds the following: Since 2006, the United Nations Security Council has approved 5 resolutions imposing sanctions against North Korea under chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, which— prohibit the use, development, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by the Government of North Korea; prohibit the transfer of arms and related materiel to or by the Government of North Korea; prohibit the transfer of luxury goods to North Korea; restrict access by the Government of North Korea to the financial system and require due diligence on the part of financial institutions to prevent the financing of proliferation involving the Government of North Korea; restrict North Korean shipping, including the reflagging of ships owned or controlled by the Government of North Korea; limit the sale by the Government of North Korea of precious metals, iron, coal, vanadium, and rare earth minerals; and prohibit the transfer to North Korea of rocket, aviation, or jet fuel.

The Government of North Korea has threatened to carry out nuclear attacks against the United States and South Korea and has sent clandestine agents to kidnap or murder the citizens of foreign countries and murder dissidents in exile. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has determined that the Government of North Korea was responsible for cyberattacks against the United States and South Korea. In February 2016, the Director of National Intelligence reported that the Government of North Korea is committed to developing a long-range, nuclear-armed missile that is capable of posing a direct threat to the United States and some arms control experts have estimated that the Government of North Korea may acquire this capability by 2020.

The Government of North Korea tested its 5th and largest nuclear device on September 9, 2016. The Government of North Korea has increased the pace of its missile testing, including the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, potentially furthering the development of capability to attack the United States with a nuclear weapon. Financial transactions and investments that provide financial resources to the Government of North Korea, and that fail to incorporate adequate safeguards against the misuse of those financial resources, pose an undue risk of contributing to— weapons of mass destruction programs of that government; and prohibited imports or exports of arms and related materiel, services, or technology by that government.

The strict enforcement of sanctions is essential to the efforts by the international community to achieve the peaceful, complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of weapons of mass destruction programs of the Government of North Korea.