Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement on the president’s trip to Asia:

“This trip is an important opportunity to strengthen America’s critical role in the region – from supporting security partnerships and democracies to calling out human rights abusers to encouraging trade alliances.  

“The president must reiterate our commitment to changing North Korea’s behavior through financial pressure and hard diplomacy. The Kim regime is on the verge of developing nuclear weapons capable of striking all 50 U.S. states. Now is the time to totally isolate the Kim regime, and cut off the hard currency it needs to sustain its rule and fund its weapons programs. This means compelling China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, to fully cooperate.

“The president should also seize this moment to help bring home economic growth. Asia’s dynamic economies hold many opportunities for jobs here in the U.S. Just look at the success story of KORUS – a trade agreement that has benefited many American workers. The United States must work to build on and strengthen these important agreements. If we don’t, others will certainly take further advantage.”

NOTE: In August, Chairman Royce led a bipartisan delegation to South Korea and Taiwan, during which he worked to strengthen security cooperation and American job creation.

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