The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill Thursday that would impose stricter sanctions on North Korea over its recent nuclear test, past cyber activities and human rights record.
The bipartisan North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act was passed by a unanimous voice vote, three weeks after Pyongyang declared it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb. The measure builds on legislation that passed the House two weeks ago, and it's expected to go to the Senate floor in mid-February, reported the Associated Press.
If the bill passes both chambers and is signed by President Barack Obama, new sanctions would be imposed against the North Korean government and anyone who assists it in acquiring goods or technology relating to weapons of mass destruction. The bill would target the trading of key industrial commodities, as well as those who engage in human rights abuses, cyberterrorism, money laundering and counterfeiting on behalf of the regime. Foreign countries would also be banned from providing deadly military equipment to the country.
"Both the House and the Senate bill focus on mandatory sanctions, which is a dramatic change from the sanctions regime we have in place today," said the bill's lead author, Republican Cory Gardner, according to Voice of America. "But it also goes a step further in cyber security policies, codifying executive orders and making sure we are focusing on human rights. Our bill also goes into sanctions on minerals that can be used to fund proliferation activities."
Violations would be met with asset seizures, visa bans and denial of government contracts, according to Reuters.
The U.S. has already imposed broad sanctions against North Korea, and U.N. resolutions ban it from trading arms and importing luxury items, but such measures have been largely unsuccessful in preventing the advancement of its nuclear programs. Because lawmakers are unsure whether North Korea will respond to additional pressure, committee members said that the new sanctions are also intended to send a stern message to other entities that the country relies on for its nuclear program and other activities. China is by far North Korea's closest business partner.
"We must also send a strong message to China... that the United States would use every economic tool at its disposal" to stop North Korea, Gardner said.
