Senate Democrats told President Trump on Monday that they won’t accept a deal to lift sanctions on North Korea unless the country completely and permanently eliminates its nuclear and missile testing program.
“Sanctions relief by the U.S. and our allies should be dependent on dismantlement and removal of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. wrote in a letter to Trump. “Any deal that explicitly or implicitly gives North Korea sanctions relief for anything other than the verifiable performance of its obligations to dismantle its nuclear and missile arsenal is a bad deal.”
They also said the deal must also result in the “complete and verifiable denuclearization of North Korea,” an end to North Korea’s ballistic missile tests, and “robust compliance inspections.” Any deal that doesn’t meet these requirements could be blocked by Congress, they warned.
“We believe that Congress therefore has an important role to play in working with the administration to support your efforts and to shape U.S. policy toward North Korea,” they wrote. “However, we also believe that Congress must act as a check on any agreement that does not live up to these principles by imposing tougher sanctions and oversight.”
“If we think the president is veering off course, we won’t hesitate to move, but let’s see where he’s headed,” Schumer told reporters Monday.
The Democrats unveiled their list of demands a little more than a week ahead of an anticipated June 12 summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that is to take place in Singapore. The meeting was called off earlier this month but Trump announced last week it is back on.
“Now that the meeting will proceed as planned, we want to make sure the president’s desire for a deal with North Korea doesn’t saddle us… with a bad deal,” Schumer said. “The president needs to be willing to walk away from the table if there isn’t a good deal to be had.”
Schumer was originally an opponent of President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which lifted sanctions in exchange for Iran temporarily suspending its nuclear program. Schumer has since withdrawn his opposition to that deal. Schumer said Monday that the North Korean deal must be permanent, not temporary, because the country, unlike Iran, already has nuclear weapons.
“The danger is so much more the greater,” Schumer said.
