Posted on 01/10/2003 3:25:30 PM PST by byteback
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Republican senators pushed legislation on Friday to seek sanctions on North Korea for breaking international nuclear arms agreements and to put a formal end to U.S. aid intended to deter Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons.
"North Korea must feel some pressure to begin to dismantle its nuclear programs," said Sen. Jon Kyl, who said he would introduce the bill on Monday with Sen. John McCain, also from Arizona.
They want the Bush administration to take a harder line against Pyongyang, while other Republicans and most Democrats are urging diplomacy to quell the nuclear standoff.
Earlier on Friday, North Korea said it was withdrawing from the global treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, heightening tensions that have been building since Pyongyang announced in October it had a covert program to enrich uranium for weapons.
It also warned the U.N. Security Council against punishing it with sanctions for pulling out of the treaty, saying it would view that as a declaration of war.
Republican congressional aides said the White House had been quietly urging lawmakers to hold off on legislation on the North Korean situation to give it a free hand to maneuver diplomatically.
Congress is slated to be out of session much of the rest of the month, so little action was expected on the Kyl-McCain bill in coming weeks.
The bill would bar U.S. aid to North Korea through the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization or KEDO, which was established under the 1994 "agreed framework" between the United States and North Korea to give Pyongyang heating oil supplies and two light-water reactors in exchange for eliminating its nuclear facilities.
It calls for economic sanctions and for the administration to pursue stiff multilateral sanctions and "international condemnation" of Pyongyang's behavior.
It also urges the administration to "work with Asian allies to undertake military reinforcements, enhanced defense exercises and other steps to ensure the highest level of deterrence."
While some conservative commentators have called for a withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops on the Korean peninsula in the face of rising anti-American sentiments in South Korea, Kyl said on the Senate floor, "It is the wrong time to either remove our troops or suggest that they are not prepared."
McCain has been among the most vocal of Republicans who blame the current standoff on the deal negotiated with Pyongyang by former President Bill Clinton's administration. They argue the deal rewarded Pyongyang for bad behavior, encouraging it to seek more concessions in exchange for raising nuclear threats.
But House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said officially halting the KEDO agreement was the wrong approach.
"What the countries in the region want us to do is to engage in dialogue so that we can avoid war. We have some tools that we should use and the spirit behind KEDO is one of them," Pelosi said earlier in the week.
Too late, the NK's already officially halted the Agreed Framework of which KEDO is a part. Nancy Pelosi is a complete dimwit.
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