Dear Friends,
It is suspected that North Korea preformed a nuclear test with a hydrogen bomb this week. Dictators like Kim Jong Un don’t take time outs, they take advantage when the United States looks away. Iran has repeatedly violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions while North Korea is allegedly testing more powerful nuclear weapons.
As Iran prepares to gain billions in sanctions relief, North Korea surely thinks it can intimidate the Obama Administration into the same.
The answer to North Korea’s threats is more pressure, not less. This rogue regime has no interest in being a responsible state. It continues to starve its people while it works to advance nuclear, missile and cyber weapons that pose a direct threat to the U.S. and our allies. The Administration’s North Korea policy has proven a dramatic failure, and we urgently need a new approach.
Next week, the House will consider two bills that will provide a more robust response to the threats facing our nation than this Administration has offered. The House will consider sanctions legislation I authored that will prohibit North Korea’s access to hard currency and other measures to block and seize assets related to nuclear proliferation, illicit activities, and human rights violations that are the hallmark of the Kim regime.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee has also advanced to the House floor important legislation targeting Iran as quickly as possible. This bill will stop the Administration from offering sanctions relief to individuals or banks unless we are certain they do not support terror, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s ballistic missile program, or its conventional weapons program.
America can only stop the rising tide of threats abroad if we respond swiftly and with strength. Iran and North Korea’s provocative actions cannot go unanswered.
Sincerely,
Ed Royce |
News for January 1-8, 2016
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Chairman Royce Joins Army Colonel John Chu for Promotion Ceremony
Earlier today at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce talked about President Obama’s final State of the Union Address, and his policies that have made the world less safe.
“We’ve had seven years now of policies that frankly have been focused on befriending our enemies and distancing ourselves from our allies.
“In 2009, there was a historic opportunity in Iran to have a chance at reaching out to the people of that country who had gone to the streets after a stolen election. [w]e had the president make his strategic calculus … not to reach out in support of the people, but instead … with the ayatollah. We also saw another calculus on the part of the administration … to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood that had been funded partially by Iran… but distance ourselves from the people of Egypt.
“The consequences of these strategies was to leave us in the Middle East in a position … where … people no longer trusted the judgement of the administration. That’s important because that means people no longer necessarily take our counsel. They began to take things into their own hands. Or they begin to adopt a new calculus in terms of who the regional hegemon is going to be based upon the assumption that we have now tilted toward Iran," said Chairman Royce.
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Rep. Royce Joins Army Colonel John Chu at Promotion Ceremony
During the holidays, Rep. Royce had the honor of joining United States Army Colonel John Chu for his promotion ceremony at Col. Chu's personal invitation. The newly minted Colonel is from Fullerton and graduated from the United States Military Academy.
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| Royce Named Among "Most Effective" Members of Congress |
The Washington Post recently named Rep. Ed Royce as one of the "Most Effective Members of Congress." Below is a story from the Orange County Register.
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Orange County Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa were among the five most effective Republicans in the 2013-2014 session -- the most recent session completed -- according to a study published in the Washington Post.
The ranking is based on something called Legislative Effectiveness Scores, which take into account how successful each lawmaker is in moving bills they sponsored and how substantial those bills are.
Issa, the Vista congressman whose district extends into south Orange County, was the second most effective House Republican, according to study authors Craig Volden of the University of Virginia and Alan Wiseman of Vanderbilt University.
Cited are Issa’s FOIA Act, which would make public access to federal documents easier, and his First Responders Passport Act, which would waive passport fees for those with an agreement with the U.S. government to aid a foreign country suffering from a natural disaster. The passport bill was passed by the House and awaits Senate action. The FOIA bill remains in committee.
Royce, the Fullerton representative and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saw nine of his 18 bills make substantial progress, including his Global Anti-Poaching Act and his Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act. That was good enough for third place.
Read more in the Orange County Register
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| Royce Office Accepting Summer 2016 Internship Applications |
Rep. Royce's Washington, Brea, and Rowland Heights offices are currently accepting candidates for Summer 2016 internships.
These internships are highly selective, and offer participants a first-hand look at the legislative and political process. Interns are given a wide variety of tasks and leave with a greater, more practical understanding of the legislative branch of government. Interns perform legislative research, attend hearings, answer phones, read mail, give tours of the U.S. Capitol, attend events in the district and much more.
Candidates may learn more and apply here. |
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