Sen. Cruz and Colleagues Pen Letter Urging for Action to Eliminate North Korea-Syria Chemical Weapons

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), John Cornyn (R-Texas), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), John Kennedy (R-LA), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) penned the following letter to U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, and U.S. Department of State Acting Secretary, John Sullivan, urging the Trump Administration to stop a Syria-North Korea sanctions evasion scheme and North Korean efforts to advance Syria’s chemical weapons technology. 

“We write to you to express our deep concern regarding a recent United Nations Panel of Experts report that connects North Korea to the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons against its own people and exposes North Korean sanctions evasion involving Russia and China,” the Senators wrote. “According to the report, North Korea supplied Syrian President Assad with acid-resistant tiles, valves and thermometers, all of which are known elements used in construction of chemical weapons factories. It also uncovered that North Korean technicians have been working at known chemical weapons and missile facilities inside Syria. These findings demonstrate an elaborate and alarming military-venture between rogue, tyrannical states to avoid United States and international sanctions and inflict terror and death upon thousands of innocent people.”

“It is imperative that the United States provides a swift and appropriate response to the continued use of chemical weapons used by President Assad and his forces, and works to address the shortcomings in sanctions enforcement,” continued the Senators. “We have seen firsthand the utter failure of tough talk, followed by hollow action, which the Obama Administration employed to combat the Assad regime.”

View the full letter here. 

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