Negotiations with North Korea

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the negotiations with North Korea. I do so in my role as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

I point out that, just a month ago, I joined with the chairman of that subcommittee, Mr. Yoho, in sending a letter to the President saying we now need tougher sanctions on North Korea. In particular, we need to make it clear to the large banks in China that they can no longer do business with North Korea.

We had our foot on the neck of Kim Jong-un. We needed to press it down a little harder to get the concessions that we need. Instead, we have a lifting of the efforts. Instead of ratcheting our sanctions up, we are going to relax them. The word is out to businesses and banks in China: You can do a little bit more today and a little bit more after that.

This is a giant victory for Kim Jong-un. The negotiations will go forward, but those negotiations will go forward with Kim Jong-un being able to breathe because we no longer have our foot on his neck.

Four hours ago, the President tweeted: ``There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.'' He might as well have smiled with Kim Jong- un and said: ``Peace in our time.''

Now, I am not saying that what happened in Singapore is as fraught with danger for the world as was what happened in Munich in 1938, but what happened in Munich will illustrate for us that just because you have a summit with smiles does not mean you are leading toward peace.

The President tweeted: ``There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.'' If you believe that, you probably believe that he has been faithful to all three of his wives.

We hope that these negotiations lead to real peace. But so far, they have led only to a big win for the person President Trump calls ``Little Rocket Man.'' That is a big win for Little Rocket Man.

You see, the President's most famous book has been reissued. It is now called ``The Art of the Capitulation.''

How do you exercise the art of the capitulation? You make enormous concessions to the other side. You settle for vague platitudes. Then you go on TV and say: This is the best deal ever.

Let's look at the concessions. The President has referred to our military exercises as provocative and indicated that they will be scaled back or eliminated. He has given the green light to Chinese business and bankers to do business. He has given Kim Jong-un the prestige of a meeting with the President of the United States, not necessarily our most prestigious President, but a President of the United States nevertheless.

What have we received in return? A vague statement about denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. But, as far as we know, North Korea doesn't intend to do that until the entire world is denuclearized. He also has released three American hostages and says he will help us, allow us, to find some of the bodies of our fallen heroes from the Korean war. Those are basic in human civilization. He releases hostages, and for that, we give major concessions.

The one concession that we did not get is a halt for even a minute in the creation of fissile material at Yongbyon. There, North Korea, throughout the negotiations and while the President was tweeting, makes more enriched uranium, more plutonium, and is building more bombs. That didn't stop for a minute.

So we are told that there has been at least a pause in their testing program. Keep in mind, Russia hasn't tested a nuclear weapon since 1990. Are we going to say that they don't have nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States and destroying our cities?

The fact is, North Korea has proven its nuclear capacity, so they can go a while without testing. They are continuing to make more bombs that they have already tested and proven.

We all hope that we reach a peaceful settlement. This has not been a good start.

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