The U.S. Senate has called upon the Obama administration to produce a report, within thirty days, to determine whether North Korea should be re-listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.
However, the Act is a long way from being signed into law by President Obama, therefore the deadline is not effective immediately.
The report was requested as part of an amendment (No. 1761) added to the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act by former presidential candidate and current Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Senator John Kerry.
The amendment also expresses the Senate’s wish to see the administration “explore additional sanctions” against North Korea, and labels North Korea “a threat to the northeast Asian region and to international peace and security.”
Amendment No. 1761 was passed by 66 votes in favor to 31 votes against. The assembled Senators preferred the Kerry amendment to one sponsored by Senator Sam Brownback (No. 1597), which would have called upon the administration to re-list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism without requesting a report first. The Brownback amendment was defeated by 54 votes to 43.
Many conservative lawmakers have expressed displeasure at the removal of North Korea from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, an action taken by the previous George Bush administration in October, 2008.
