Gardner introduces bipartisan bill targeting North Korea, affiliates with tighter sanctions

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) on Thursday introduced a bill that would bar those who do business with North Korea from the U.S. financial system and would implement sanctions against entities that take part in North Korean labor trafficking.

Gardner authored the North Korean Enablers Accountability Act and introduced it with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH). A bipartisan group of senators cosponsored the bill, including U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).

“With its latest successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, North Korea has demonstrated intent and capability to hit the U.S. homeland — and, as President Trump said, we must never allow this to happen,” said Gardner, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity.

“We must take every diplomatic and economic measure now to stop North Korea and to prevent nuclear war. My bipartisan legislation gives those that currently conduct trade with North Korea a clear choice — either do business with this heinous outlaw regime or do business with the world’s leading economic and military power,” Gardner added.

The bill follows North Korea’s test of an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4 that demonstrated the capability of reaching the United States.

In addition to blocking financial transactions involving the North Korean government and its affiliates, entities and financial institutions involved in trade with North Korea would also be barred.

“North Korea must be held accountable for its dangerous and destabilizing actions,” Portman said. “Whether it’s the regime’s illegal nuclear weapons program, its provocative ballistic missile tests, its human rights abuses against its own people, or its outrageous and unacceptable detention of Americans, it is time to impose meaningful costs on the North Korean government. The United States cannot do this alone, and other countries in the region, particularly China, also have an obligation to take real action against this threat to regional stability and our national security.”

Gardner’s bill would also require the president to ban any imports made with North Korean labor from entering the United States, and sanctions would be imposed on those engaged in labor trafficking with North Korea.