Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal printed an op-ed written by Sen. DeMint about his recent fact-finding trip to Honduras. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the senator led a congressional delegation to the country to meet with Honduran President Roberto Micheletti, members of the Honduran Supreme Court, election officials, and Honduran business and civic leaders.
In the last three months, much has been made of a supposed military "coup" that whisked former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya from power and the supposed chaos it has created.
After visiting Tegucigalpa last week and meeting with a cross section of leaders from Honduras's government, business community, and civil society, I can report there is no chaos there. There is, however, chaos to spare in the Obama administration's policy toward our poor and loyal allies in Honduras...
Following the passage of Sen. DeMint's amendment requiring the completion of 700 miles of double-layer physical fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border by December 31, 2010, border security advocates have voiced their support for the provision to survive conference. DeMint's amendment makes changes to the FY2010 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill, versions of which each passed the Senate and House and now go to conference before being sent to President Obama's desk.
Sen. DeMint's amendment follows through on the three-year-old promise made by Congress to secure the border under the Secure Fence Act of 2006. To date, only a fraction of the promised double-layered physical fence has been erected. Recently, the president discussed the importance of a "long-term solution with respect to future flows of illegal immigration." As DeMint's amendment makes clear, vehicle barriers and unproven high-tech equipment are not long-term viable solutions and do not fulfill the requirements of the Secure Fence Act. The senator's amendment holds Congress and DHS Secretary Napolitano accountable for previously passed legislation.
As the appropriations bill moves to conference, Democrats must choose between kowtowing to the open borders radicals in their party or honoring the bipartisan support shown yesterday in the Senate in support of completing the border fence in full, as mandated three years ago. DeMint's amendment was approved in a 54-44 vote, with 21 Democrats joining 33 Republicans in support of the measure.
This morning Sen. DeMint questioned the position of the Obama Administration on Honduras during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing with President Obama's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Arturo Valenzuela. Over the past two days several GOP senators have joined DeMint to speak out in support of the Honduran people's plight to preserve their democracy. Along with DeMint, Senators Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) have voiced support for the rule of law on the floor of the Senate. Today, DeMint, Martinez and Coburn were joined by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) at a press conference where they urged the administration to reconsider its current stance, which was made in haste before all the facts were in.
Now 16 senators have joined DeMint in sending a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking her and President Obama to reassess their stance on the situation in Honduras and urging them to meet with democratically elected members of Honduran Congress currently visiting the United States. (To view the letter, click here.)
This was not a coup, it was the constitutional removal of a would-be Chavez-style dictator and Obama has once again sided against American interests and against people standing for freedom and democracy.
Senators Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) held a joint press conference today to voice unified support for the democratically appointed new president of Honduras, Roberto Micheletti. Sen. Martinez noted that Hondurans do not believe their country is in crisis, and Sen. DeMint reiterated how important it is that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton side with the rule of law instead of with would-be dictator and deposed president, Manuel Zelaya.
Senator DeMint spoke yesterday on the Senate floor about President Obama's nominee to be legal adviser for the State Department. He warned that Mr. Koh would give too much power to the United Nations and has shown willingness to rely on International Law over the the U.S. Constitution.
KOH NOMINATION -- (Senate - June 23, 2009)
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Mr. DeMINT . Mr. President, I rise today, regretfully, to oppose the nomination of Harold Koh to be the State Department legal adviser. It is hard to do because in meeting Mr. Koh, I certainly enjoyed him. I have friends back in South Carolina who know him. He is certainly a very likable person. But his nomination to this important position requires some scrutiny about what his philosophy is when it comes to the United States and our international agreements and the sovereignty of our country.
I oppose Mr. Koh's nomination for many reasons, and most important of these is my belief that if confirmed, he will work to greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that I believe all Americans expect of our Federal Government.
Let me talk a little bit about his role and what that would be if he is confirmed as the legal adviser to the State Department.
According to the State Department's Web site, the legal adviser would furnish ``advice on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements involving peace initiatives, arms control discussions, and private law conventions on subjects such as judicial cooperation in recognition of foreign judgments.''...
A CRS Report on North Korea requested to be updated by the office Senator DeMint details the the most recent links Pyongyang has to supporting terrorism. The report contains information on recent evidence that North Korea is working with terrorists groups like Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG) and Hezbollah. North Korea was taken off of the State Sponsors of Terrorism list in October of 2008, not because they had stopped supporting terrorism, but in misplaced hopes by the Bush Administration that it would encourage Pyongyang would stop their pursuit of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
Last week, Senator DeMint led a group of senators that wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to relist North Korea as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. They also introduced an amendment to force the Obama Administration into action, but Majority Leader Harry did not allowed a vote.
This past Sunday, Secretary Clinton was on ABC News and was asked to respond to the senators' letter:
Asked whether she had evidence of the North's support for international terrorism, Clinton said: "We're just beginning to look at it. I don't have an answer for you right now."
Here are some examples of the North Korea's latest terror links from the CRS report:
[PAGE 21] North Korea’s relationship with the IRG appears to be in two areas: (1) coordination in support for Hezbollah and (2) cooperation in ballistic missile development. Reports also suggest that North Korea cooperates with the IRG and other Iranian entities in the development of nuclear capabilities or nuclear weapons.
[PAGE 22] State Department’s Fact Sheet asserted that the IRG “has assisted Hizballah [Hezbollah] in rearming” since the 2006 war, presumably including the supply of new longer-range missiles described by the 2008 Israeli intelligence estimate.
[PAGE 23] Later in 2006, it was reported that North Korea had made an initial shipment to Iran of its new Musudan intermediate range missile. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates stated in November 2007 that North Korea had supplied Iran with missiles with a range of 1,562 miles (probably the Musudan). North Korea and Iran reportedly carried out joint tests of the Musudan. In April 2008, several publications reported the existence of a new Iranian missile research and development site that had the same appearance as North Korea’s Taepodong missile assembly facility inside North Korea.
Several reports in 2009 described Iran seeking and receiving the assistance of North Korean missile technicians in preparing to launch a missile bearing an artificial satellite. The launch on February 2, 2009, was successful. A delegation of up to 15 Iranians, from the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (a company connected with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards), reportedly were observers at the site of North Korea’s test of a Taepodong II long-range missile on April 5, 2009. Officials from this company and IRG officials reportedly also had observed North Korea’s missile launches of July 4, 2006.
[PAGE 26] The Sankei Shinbun report of July 12, 2008, also described two visits of high level Iranian officials to North Korea in February and May 2008. The Iranian delegation included officials of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and National Security Council. The apparent purpose of these visits, according to the report, was to ensure that North Korea would maintain secrecy about its nuclear collaboration with Iran in its negotiations with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill.
The Sankei Shimbun report of September 12, 2008, also described two forms of non-nuclear military cooperation between Iran and North Korea inside Syria. One of these reportedly involves North Korean scientists and military personnel working with Iranian and Syrian counterparts at a chemical weapons plant in northern Syria. The second reportedly involves a plan by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to deploy small, North Korean-made submarines in a military port in Syria.
Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and 7 other senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling on the administration to immediately relist North Korea on the U.S. State Department's State Sponsors of Terrorism List. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cornyn (R-TX), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Sessions (R-AL), and Vitter (R-LA).
The letter text is below and you can find a pdf copy of the letter here.
June 2, 2009
The Honorable Hillary Clinton
Secretary
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Madame Secretary:
We are writing to request that you immediately place the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) back on the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List.
As you know, the DPRK has never ended the activities for which it was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism. A number of reports have demonstrated this fact.
Despite this fact, under the Six-Party Talks framework that focused on “action for action,” former President Bush removed the DPRK from the State Department’s State Sponsors of Terrorism List to encourage the DPRK to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
However, in recent weeks, the DPRK has engaged in a number of nuclear and missile tests that have destabilized the region and increased the threat to U.S. national security. In addition, the DPRK has gone even further in announcing its withdrawal from the 1953 Armistice the United Nations negotiated to end the Korean War.
The DPRK has neither ended its sponsorship of terror activities nor moved in the direction intended when President Bush de-listed the DPRK. In fact, the DPRK has done just the opposite.
In light of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’s announcement that DPRK is preparing to launch a long-range missile capable of reaching the United States, it is critical that the DPRK be placed back on the list without delay and that its regime is denied access to multinational loans and other financial vehicles that help fund their destabilizing activities.
Sincerely,
Jim DeMint
John Cornyn
Jeff Sessions
Tom Coburn
Saxby Chambliss
Michael B. Enzi
David Vitter
John Ensign
Last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on Harold Koh, President Obama's nominee to serve as the top legal advisor to the State Department. After reading several of Mr. Koh’s articles and meeting with him in my office, I am particularly concerned about the role he sees for international law when making and interpreting U.S. laws and how they apply to the Department of State. His judicial philosophy suggests that he believes international law supersedes U.S. federal law, and that the Constitution should be just one of many guide posts for the American legal system. I fear Mr. Koh’s positions could undermine American sovereignty and the unique role the United States plays in the world.
After the hearing last week, I submitted a number of additional "Questions for the Record" for Mr. Koh in order to more fully understand his positions on these issues. I thought you may want to see Mr. Koh’s responses. They are posted here.
